


Last War: Adora's Honor

by NamakiTDR



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 20:00:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 25,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29531643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamakiTDR/pseuds/NamakiTDR
Summary: Glimmer is in Horde Prime's captivity. Catra's isolation is complete. Adora can no longer become She-Ra. Horde Prime threatens to conquer their world only to destroy it using the Heart of Etheria. Despite their shortcomings, our heroes move forward.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), George/Lance (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Netossa/Spinnerella (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 17





	1. So It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided that this is my destiny. Season 5 was a MESS, and I was BORN to make it BETTER. This is how I would've handled Season 5. This is my rewrite. Sorry if it's still bad tho lmao. It took a lot out of me to write this first chapter and I'm so excited to keep writing. Sorry if the progress chapters slow down now and again. I don't wanna burn myself out. I hope y'all like it!!

DAY 1: BRIGHT MOON - 14:02

The Royal Memorial Hall was spotless - shiny, just as Micah had remembered. Below him, his reflection walked with him, a reflection he initially didn’t recognize. Over a decade on Beast Island and he became someone he didn’t know. Granted, a nightmare like that would’ve changed anyone, physically or mentally. 

It didn’t take long for him to find her mural. The royal memoriam hall existed for a reason, after all. He remembered his doubts on the accuracy of these paintings back then. He used to think there were mistakes or mistrokes. Not that he was much of an artist, the look of them had just never sat right with him. But seeing Angella’s painting… All of those doubts went away. She looked just as serene as he’d remembered her. Her long, dual-toned hair of both pink and purple. The magenta tint of her skin. Her divine, translucent, shimmery wings. But what tugged his heart strings the most was her smile. It was a subtle one, but always providing warmth. He could never forget the first time he saw that smile.

_ Everyone in Bright Moon heard the news. It’d be a surprise if Angella’s voice had gone unheard at all. And yet, despite people knowing about it, everyone was surprised she’d just ran off.  _

_ Micah was tasked to find her. Castaspella volunteered to help, but the others in Bright Moon had something else for her to do. It wasn’t hard to find the princess. He knew she wouldn’t go far from Bright Moon. The creek she used to spend time with her father in - that was the obvious option - the correct one. Angella sat before the flowing waters, her legs crossed and her head hung low. Her shoulders shook. Was she crying?  _

_ Micah approached carefully. She knew he was there. He knew she knew. He didn’t want to alarm her, nevertheless. He sat by her, watching the water. “I’m sorry about your dad,” he started. She turned her head away, hugging her knees. ‘Okay. She doesn’t wanna hear that. Got it.’ Micah searched his surroundings, finding the perfect pebble. He took it into his palm and held it out in display, “Ever skipped rocks before?” _

_ Angella looked over, her eyes red and puffy; they were also curious. Micah took that as a green light. “I’d always heard about it,” he started, tossing the rock in the air and catching it, “and I’d always wanted someone to teach me. No one at Mystacor had time to teach me, so I taught myself.” He stood, wiggling his hand in preparation. ‘Please be more than three hops,’ he begged to himself before finally tossing the rock.  _

_ Two hops. Great. Thankfully, it was enough to impress the princess, for her head rose from her shoulders at the sight. He gave her a kind smile, “Want me to teach you?” She stood, nodding and swiping her hands on her hips free of dirt. Her tranquil appearance was more present than he’d ever seen her as she stood bathed in the sunrise. “Hi,” he started for some reason. “I-I’m Micah,” he stuttered. ‘Smooth. Real smooth.’ _

_ Thankfully, she could see his inner struggle. She could see right through his feelings. She didn’t judge. She just gave a subtle, yet warming, smile. He could feel his face turn hot, but he didn’t let himself get lost. “U-um,” he stuttered as he picked up another rock. “It’s all in the wrist.” _

Micah felt a tear roll down his cheek at that memory. He wiped it gracefully, allowing himself to frown as well. He wished so badly that he could have a full family reunion. He knew, however, that he couldn’t let his wishes get in the way of being a father. Glimmer would come back soon. He knew she’d need him now more than ever.  _ ‘Queen Glimmer… that’s gonna take a while to get used to saying,’  _ he quipped to himself. 

“She chose to be brave,” said his mentor, who had crept up behind him. “She was strong. You would have been proud.”

Micah, the joy sinking away in him, turned to face Shadow Weaver, “She was always brave and strong. You just couldn’t see it because you think power is strength.”

Shadow Weaver’s masked eyes squinted into slits, her shoulders rising as she took a deep breath. She came closer to Micah, now standing beside him to admire Angella’s mural. “Your daughter is strong and brave, too. It’s an honor to bring her to her full potential-”

A knot formed in Micah’s heart at the thought of Shadow Weaver taking care of Glimmer. He stepped even closer to her, feeling his face tighten, “You stay away from her.”

“Calm down,” Shadow Weaver said in a cool demeanor as she placed her hands together. “I taught her to relish in her power. All I wanted was for her to know how powerful she is.”

“Feel free to relieve yourself from that, then. She’s  _ my _ daughter, not yours.” He could tell Shadow Weaver was getting frustrated when she sighed, her head tilting downwards as she did so. 

“We want the same thing,” she said, “Hordak destroyed. We could at least  _ act _ like allies.”

“Because I’d definitely forget what you did.”

“It’s been a long time, Micah. People can change.”

Micah looked at his old mentor with disgust. She once carried so much elegance in her warmth. Her kindness and humble prowess once inspired him; now, all he could see was the magical parasite she’d turned herself into. A selfish creature who only thought for herself, rotting from within. “No kidding.”

Rapid steps approached from the royal memoriam hall entrance. “Your Majesty,” called out a voice. He turned to find Juliet, stopping before them, “The Sorcerer’s Guild has arrived.”

Micah felt the knot in his heart become undone only for it to sink. He’d never prayed in his life before; he prayed to the First Ones that she was with them. He’d missed her dearly - her laugh, her hugs, her support. Without giving Juliet a chance to say more, Micah ran past her, leaving her alone with Shadow Weaver.

He arrived at the castle gates to find several sorcerers waiting. Front and center, there she was. Castaspella. She froze at first sight. She looked like a cat who just got caught doing something they know they shouldn’t be doing. He was the exact opposite - a dog in excitement for reunion. He sprinted over to take her into his arms, squeezing tightly. He didn’t care to wipe his tears again, his  _ sister _ was here. “M-Micah…?” Castaspella finally spoke barely above a whisper; she pulled away, her hands on his shoulders, as she studied his face. She needed to process this - he understood that much. “I-it’s…” She whispered as she touched around his face, his nose, his beard, all of it with shaky hands. “It’s you…” She latched her arms around his neck, launching herself to hug him as she cried in his chest. He smiled once again, wrapping his arms around her in love.

* * *

The gardens were much more organized than Micah had remembered. Neither he nor Angella were much of a gardener. Odd to believe  _ Shadow Weaver _ was responsible for the calming aura this place now resided. White roses, daisies, and other countless beautiful flowers thrived in this place. 

Micah sat with Castaspella before a patch of flowers, watching the sunset just like they used to as children. Sure, there may have been other important matters to attend to, but to him, at that moment, all that mattered was his family. Laughter. Micah felt alive again. His sister was with him; Glimmer would be home soon. Two of the people he’d never thought he’d see again - never thought he’d hug again, nor would he laugh with them. His isolation was nearly coming to an end. 

“It’s… It’s jarring,” Castaspella said with a grin. “ _ How _ are you here?”

Micah smiled, looking off into the gorgeous landscape he’d missed so dearly. “Do you remember our lesson about Lennen?”

Castaspella stifled laughter, but he could tell she was genuinely intrigued. “The gold treasure person?”

Micah nodded softly, “Yeah.”

“You’d have to jog my memory.”

Micah leaned back on his hands, his memory bank reaching as far as it could. “They were a miner. You know how it was back then. Be away from home for weeks so there can be food on the table for the family. Lennen heard rumors about some sort of gold, I don’t remember what exactly, but it gave them a motive to work harder - to survive the dangerous minefield. If they got their hands on this gold, their family could live blissfully. No matter the hardships they faced, they went forward. They pushed through and got their reward. Resilience was what it took.” He finished with a soft look, “You all were the gold I was after.”

“Resilience with the motive of seeing family again. I guess that makes it more believable,” Castaspella said to herself.

“Your turn.”

“My turn?”

“Yeah. Tell me what you’ve been doin’ while I haven’t been around to keep you out of trouble.”

She playfully scoffed, “I can keep myself out of trouble, thank you very much.” After brief laughter, she put a finger to her chin, thinking. “Oh! I’ve taken up knitting!”

Micah nearly choked at the thought. “What? Hold on. I had to stop you from pulling the muffins out of the oven too soon, and you’re telling me you  _ finally _ got the patience for something like  _ knitting _ ? Jeez, what did I miss?!” He laughed.

Castaspella rolled her eyes and gave his shoulder a push. “Give me your measurements and I’ll make you some mean socks, just you watch, old man.”

“Maybe I will.” Micah couldn’t stop himself from wearing a goofy grin, one that softened Castaspella’s heart to see again. 

She sighed, her eyes saddening at the pink tint in the sky. “I couldn’t tell you enough, Micah,” she said, “I’m so sorry about Angella.”

Micah, taking a deep breath, thought on a proper response. “It’s not your fault,” he started, his voice gruff. “She made a choice and it mattered. I just hope Glimmer is taking the time she needs to grieve.”

Her eyes turned away from him; her brows furrowed in concern. “I wouldn’t know. She hasn’t really talked to me since the coronation. I had the sense, however, that she was… angry. I mean, naturally, she’s a hot head, but this was different.”

Micah smiled, “Hot headed, huh? First I’m hearing about it. Can’t wait to hear more.”

Unlike before, Juliet arrived much more gracefully. “Your Majesty, Castaspella, they have returned.”

Micah beamed. Once again, he sprinted past Juliet before much else could be said. He couldn’t believe this was finally happening. Glimmer - his little Glimmer… he was finally going to see her again. He wondered what she looked like. Did she take after him? Or perhaps did she become more regal with age and became like her mother? He couldn’t bear to wait and find out. As he ran through the castle, he noted the orange light of the sunset gleaming through the windows of the halls. With the sun setting, his nightmare was finally coming to a complete end. And where things ended, others began. 

Micah considered pausing momentarily to finally let it all set in. His heart throbbed at the thought of hugging his baby girl again. His excitement coursed through his veins - he couldn’t stop. The time had come.  _ ‘But what if I can’t be the father she needs?’ _ He was quick to shake his head of those thoughts. He knew he’d live up to her expectations - he already decided he’d tell her about how he met her mother - about the first time her mother flew - everything. It would all be perfectly bliss.

As he arrived to meet with Adora and Bow, his eyes searched the room for who could be his daughter. That, however, was in vain. He stood before the guards, Adora, Bow, the Princess Alliance; Castaspella had finally caught up behind him. Yet, he felt alone, somehow. He didn’t find what he’d wanted. Why?

Before he could think on that question, Adora, who looked like she’d just accidentally kicked a puppy, dragged her feet over to him. She wouldn’t dare to meet his eyes; Mermista, Perfuma and Frosta all had the same manner of expression spread clearly across their faces.  _ ‘No… no, don’t tell me…’ _

“King Micah,” she started, her words already choked. He didn’t let her continue. Or, rather, he didn’t want her to. He’d blocked her out. He didn’t need to hear anymore to understand that his nightmare wasn’t over; the sunset was meaningless.

DAY 2: VELVET GLOVE - 08:47

White lights cloaked the hall of reflective metal. Catra hated how bright it looked. Or maybe she was just used to the color scheme of the Fright Zone. Up ahead, the hall was full of conjunctions. Catra was sure she’d be lost if she weren’t given a holo-map by Horde Prime. Even so, she found the amount of conjunctions obnoxious - as if they were telling her she should know which way she wanted to go next as she wandered aimlessly. 

Catra’s lone steps echoed through the hall. As of that moment, Catra had no plan, nor did she have a purpose that would benefit herself other than staying alive on this ship. She knew she had to think of something soon, or her worth to Prime would run out before she knew it. She couldn’t think, though. She hated when she couldn’t think. It’d mean  _ they _ would haunt her now that nothing else was on her mind. Her mind felt like it was going static as she walked, memories fading into the grain.

_ “I need to tell Hordak, he’ll understand-” _

_ “You made your choice. Now, live with it!” _

_ “You’re a bad friend.” _

_ “We used to be your friends. Why are you treating us like this?” _

_ “But did you ever stop to think, ‘maybe they’re not the problem’? It’s you. You drive them away, wildcat.” _

Catra then noticed her fist was pressed against the wall beside her, denting the metal.  _ ‘Traitors,’ _ she thought to herself,  _ ‘all of them.’ _ She felt her heart tighten at the mental image of Double Trouble standing over her.  _ ‘Who do they think they are? Saying my heart’s not in the game…’  _ She shook her head of her spiteful thoughts, knowing that her vendettas aren’t what she needed to focus on at the moment. 

_ ‘There’s gotta be something I can do…’ _ Catra put a finger to her chin, strategizing every possible outcome of her situation. When thoughtlessly turning a corner, Catra spotted one of Horde Prime’s clones in the distance guarding a giant door.  _ ‘... Weird…’ _

Dropping her hands to her sides, Catra approached the clone, who showed no hesitation in raising his palm to her. “This area is forbidden,” he droned.

“What’s in here?”

“This area is forbidden,” he droned again.

“Prime told me to come here,” she lied.

“I’ve received no such orders. This area is forbidden.”

Catra huffed, crossing her arms again as she stared into the clone’s soulless eyes.  _ ‘I don’t think punching would exactly do the job here,’ _ she thought,  _ ‘there’s gotta be some weakness… Ah!’ _ Catra recalled her arrival to this ship. Hiding behind debris, watching from the shadows, she witnessed Prime inject Hordak with something. Whatever it was, it fit perfectly into the hole in his neck.  _ ‘That has to mean something.’ _ “What about that room?” She asked, pointing to the side. When the clone looked over, the hole in the back of his neck was within reach. With a smirk, Catra jammed her nails into it, causing him to short circuit.  _ ‘That was way too easy,’ _ Catra thought, shaking her head as the clone slumped onto the floor.

Entering the room, Catra felt an overwhelming presence. Large tubes were built into the walls to her sides, but before her stood what looked like a giant computer.  _ ‘Entrapta would love it here.’ _

_ “I need to tell Hordak, he’ll understand-” _

Catra shook her head off of the memory.  _ ‘Ugh, what’s *with* me?’ _ Catra walked alongside the tubes and noticed that only one of them had something - someone - in it. He looked pretty much like all of the other clones, but his dark hair and clothes gave away to her that it was Hordak she was looking at. He floated in the tube unconscious in a green substance of some sort. Knowing how Hordak felt - abandoned, she felt pity for him, but not enough to free him and get them both killed.  _ ‘Now *that’d* be stupid.’ _

Catra made it over to the computer in the room, grazing her nails over the long keyboard.  _ ‘What… *is* this…?’ _ Footsteps echoed down the hall rapidly. Startled, Catra, shutting her eyes, accidentally slammed one of the larger keys on the keyboard just as the clones made it to the doorway. Opening her eyes, Catra found them still. She looked to the keyboard, the gears in her mind working perfectly to figure out that this was a control room of some sort. 

_ ‘I should get out of here,’ _ she decided and marched on past the clones at the doorway, only to turn the next corner and bump into Horde Prime himself. 

“Little Sister,” he spoke slowly, a threatening smirk spreading his lips. “I’m sure you understand what ‘forbidden’ means, yes?”

_ ‘Little Sister? Ugh, right, “everyone in my legion is family.” Creepy.’  _ Catra, rolling her eyes, sighed. “I have this thing about rules-”

“Which won’t be so easily overlooked,” Prime interrupted, bringing a finger up to stroke one of her thick locks of hair only for her to lean away. 

His composure was something she wasn’t used to. Usually with Hordak or Shadow Weaver, she’d get yelled at, but… there’s no yelling with him. Almost like he was releasing his anger some other way that she couldn’t see even with a second look. “It’s not like you can do anything about it, I’m the only one here who’ll tell you anything about the super weapon.”

“I’ve seen his memories,” Prime started as he retreated his hand into a soft fist, placing it behind his back, “I’ve seen how you work. I’ve seen you manipulate those superior to you. Please, do not think me so foolish to fall for a trick I’ve seen before.” 

Catra found herself unable to move as he passed her.  _ ‘Come on, move!’ _ She told her body, but her knees were shaking to the rhythm of her racing heart. 

“Display disobedience once more, and there  _ will _ be repercussions,” he promised, his voice becoming farther and farther.

It wasn’t until then that Catra realized she wasn’t breathing; she let out a long exhale.  _ ‘Maybe surviving here just isn’t an option at all.’ _

* * *

_ "If your best was enough, my mom would still be here." _ Those words continued to echo in Glimmer’s thoughts. Those words, however, weren’t what haunted her. What haunted her was Adora’s reaction. Her big, baby blues trembled and watered; her mouth opening and closing as though she wanted to say something but didn’t know what; her hands curling into fists as she couldn’t help but take a step back. Disbelief and shock were written in big, bold letters across her face - and it was Glimmer’s fault. She never had the chance to apologize as Adora only ran away in hurt.

Glimmer laid back in her bed, her head at the foot of it so she could look into the deep, dark, outer space just outside the window above her bed, though she couldn’t bring herself to only stare into that. She mostly stared at the metallic, shiny ceiling of her cell. She needed to see the reflection of it - it was her punishment to herself. What she saw laying in her bed in the reflection wasn’t her. It wasn’t who she thought she was: smart; a hero; a good friend. What she saw was the villain of the story. She used Adora as bait without her consent, failed Mermista, and her arrogance brought this monster to her planet. She revolted at the sight of her true reflection.

_ I wonder what mom would think if she saw me now. She’d probably ground me as soon as she brought me back to Bright Moon.' _ To that thought, Glimmer huffed a small laugh, then came the warmth in her eyes. Her heart ached as she held herself, closing her eyes; the tears fell down the sides of her head. She imagined her mother’s hug she’d missed so dearly - and her wings wrapping around her as well.  _ 'If only I were nicer to her, too.' _ That thought brought her to sob. She’d treated everyone she cared for like pawns in her game against the Horde; they likely died because of it.

For all she knew, Bow and Adora were probably dead. If they were, it’d be entirely her fault for ignoring their warnings. If they weren’t, she probably wouldn’t get the chance to make amends with them, and it’d be her fault for being taken to this spaceship in the first place. They were her first friends ever and she ruined it so tragically. 

_ ' _ _ Adora.' _ The thought of her instantly warmed her heart and wiped her tears.  _ 'Adora’s such a goofball,' _ Glimmer giggled to herself, recalling a good memory.

_ Glimmer couldn’t believe what she had seen that week. She thought she’d hit the jackpot by capturing a Horde Captain, but what they’d found was much, much more than that: “She-Ra.” Her first transformation was breathtaking. There was a light that shone from within Adora, a light that told Glimmer, “Everything is gonna be okay.” Her eight foot stature, her muscles, her long hair… It was all bliss. And Glimmer couldn’t stop thinking about it as she struggled to sleep.  _

_ With heavy lids, Glimmer teleported down from her bed, wiping her eyes as her muscles ached in exhaustion. She had decided that tea may help her sleep and finally get Adora off her mind; she waddled tiredly out of her room and through the castle halls and to the kitchen. Much to her surprise, she had found a certain blonde on her mind there. “Adora?” Glimmer whispered. _

_ Adora propped her shoulders up and, startled, looked at Glimmer with a small smile. “Hey,” Adora whispered back, “Do we have to whisper?” _

_ Glimmer smiled, shaking her head. “Just didn’t wanna scare you,” she explained quickly before making her way to prepare the kettle for her tea. “What are you doing here?” _

_ Though Glimmer wasn’t looking, she could feel the sudden nervousness spike in Adora. “U-uh, I, err…” Glimmer looked back at Adora, who was scratching the back of her neck and seemingly staring into nothing. “Well, what are you doing up?” _

_ “Huh?” The question caught Glimmer completely off-guard as her mind became static. “Oh, uh, nightmares,” she answered just before bringing her attention back to the kettle. “Just, uh… yeah, nightmares.” _

_ “I didn’t know you had nightmares. Do… you… wanna talk about it?” Adora asked hesitantly, probably because she didn’t know if she was overstepping any boundaries. “It’s cool, though, if, ya know, you don’t wanna tell me your deepest darkest fears,” Adora chuckled, once again rubbing the back of her neck as she walked to stand beside Glimmer. _

_ "I keep thinking about you and it’s not letting me sleep," Glimmer wanted to say. She knew, however, that that may come off as strange - she didn’t exactly understand it herself. It shouldn’t be bothering her so much anyway since it’s probably nothing… right? Glimmer smiled once again, shaking her head. “You’re okay.” A stale, awkward silence shortly filled the room. Adora took that as a “no, I don’t want to talk about it.” And so, Adora was left to continue venturing for, what Glimmer assumed, her midnight snack. Glimmer tapped on the counter as she waited for her kettle to be ready. In her tapping, a thought poked and prodded at her curiosity. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” she said, gaining Adora’s attention once more.  _

_ Again, Adora propped her shoulders up and looked at Glimmer, though without the smile. She seemed genuinely surprised Glimmer was willing to open up. “Yeah! Okay, sure!” Adora said, her voice sounding a slight pitch higher as she returned to Glimmer’s side. “Um… Me first?” _

_ Glimmer nodded. _

_ “Okay, um… I’ve never seen them, but from what Bow told me… Frogs. They sound a little terrifying.” _

_ Glimmer held back her smile, stifling a laugh. “Really?” _

_ “The thought of something able to unleash its tongue like a whip to catch its prey is pretty terrifying.” _

_ “Did Bow tell you how big they are?” _

_ “Uh… No. Like a horse, or?” Glimmer grinned at Adora’s obliviousness and cupped her hands, pretending to hold a chick in them. Adora’s jaw dropped, her inquisitive eyes sparkling. “Small?” _

_ “Very,” Glimmer laughed, finally releasing that pent up joy. “She-Ra is afraid of miniature animals,” she said, continuing to laugh. Embarrassed, Adora covered her face, laughing with Glimmer. Once the joy in the room died down, yet another thought poked at Glimmer’s curiosity. “Does… she scare you?” Adora gave an inquiring look. “You know… She-Ra?” _

_ The light in Adora’s face dimmed slightly as her eyes fell from Glimmer’s. “I mean… a little. I could hurt someone if I’m not careful, ya know?” _

_ Understanding, Glimmer nodded.  _

_ Adora looked up to meet Glimmer’s eyes. “But I can’t let it get to me. I have to protect people, and to do that, I… I can’t be afraid.” Glimmer’s lips stretched into a smile. She could feel the strain on the edges of her mouth already. In turn, Adora smiled back, bringing Glimmer’s attention to her lips. She had never noticed how soft they looked until this moment. Her fixation on Adora’s lips led her to noticing the freckles spread across her nose and cheeks. This only made Glimmer’s smile wider.  _

_ The kettle scared the living daylight out of Adora as she immediately got into a defensive fighting position. Before she had the chance to punch it off the stove, Glimmer got in the way, her hands protruding to Adora’s face. “Not a bomb!” She said repetitively. Carefully, as to not frighten Adora any further, Glimmer moved the kettle. “It’s supposed to scream. That’s how I know it’s ready,” she explained. _

_ As Glimmer prepared her tea, Adora watched in awe. “What… is… that…?”  _

_ Glimmer raised her eyebrows as she looked at Adora. “You didn’t even have tea there?” Adora shook her head slowly. Glimmer sighed, feeling her heart hurt at the idea of the environment Adora grew up in. “Think of it like a multitool: you can use it for all kinds of things - as a screwdriver or a wrench. Tea is a drink that can help you with a lot of things, too. It can give you energy, make you happy… This one is gonna help me sleep. Do you wanna give it a try?” Again, Adora’s eyes sparkled at the beverage. She acted with haste once given a cup and tried to drink immediately, burning her top lip. Glimmer laughed, “You’re supposed to blow on it first!” 'Adora is such a goofball,' she thought, amused by the scenario. _

That conversation brought a feeling to Glimmer now, in the cell.  _ "I can’t let it get to me," _ said Adora,  _ "I can’t be afraid." _ Still holding herself, Glimmer closed her eyes softly, breathing slowly. She could feel her heart - she could hear it.  _ 'I have to do something.' _

Glimmer stood and, with no loss of her momentum in her newfound determination, went to the green ray shield keeping her in. She cupped her hands together as though holding a chick, mustering up what energy she had left to create an aura. She released this sorcery onto the shield.

Nothing.

Hoping to think of something else, Glimmer began to pace alongside the shield. When nothing came to mind, she grew frustrated. She turned back to the shield and placed her hands on it, the point of contact twinkling. “You can’t hold me here forever!” She shouted.

The color of the shield began to distort. Glimmer, eyes wide, took a step back.  _ ‘Did- did that actually work?! What the-’ _

The shield became clear and Glimmer saw someone standing on the other side at the control panel; Glimmer came to the conclusion that that’s why the shield’s color changed. The person she saw - her stomach felt sick at the sight. Feeling her forehead tighten, Glimmer’s face heated up, her fists clenching enough to turn white. “What are  _ you _ doing here?” Catra, who looked meek, took a step towards Glimmer, leading the queen to punch the shield. “Get out of here!”

“I just-”

Glimmer didn’t want to hear it -  _ not _ from her. “I don’t care if you’re lonely, go! I don’t want you here!!”

Catra’s ears lowered, as did her head, before her face tightened, too. Adora told her about how she hid her pain with anger. Catra walked away, and, for a moment, Glimmer was tempted to call out, feeling lonely herself, but only for a moment. All she could see was the person who led the attack on Bright Moon. The one who pushed Bow off a cliff. The one who pulled the lever and nearly destroyed reality. The one who took her mom away. The one who manipulated the Princess Alliance and conquered Salineas, ruining thousands of lives that day. The one who hurt Adora and Scorpia. She’d rather die of loneliness than try to make friends with possibly the worst person she’d met - her stomach twisted at the idea. And so, she watched Catra fade into the darkness of the hall. 

Glimmer sat at her bed, realizing the tears at her eyes. She sighed, letting them fall down her soft cheeks.  _ ‘Out of *all* people I could’ve ended up with here…’ _

DAY 2: BRIGHT MOON - 10:31

Adora’s failure stared right in her face. She wanted so badly to believe that what happened to the princesses wasn’t her fault, but she couldn’t. She so strongly believed that she could’ve done better - should’ve done better. Those thoughts raced through her mind as she stood before a window, watching the princesses struggle in the garden.

Mermista stood in front of a small table, and on the table was a glass of water. Adora had never seen her so concentrated as she waved her hands around the glass; her concentration broke the more Frosta screamed, resulting in her familiar groan-pout combo, prompting Sea Hawk to run over to try to make her feel better.

Frosta held a rock in one hand and used the other to gesture at it, screaming every single time. Mermista clearly found it annoying that Frosta wouldn’t try anything different and just kept using the same gesture in trying to freeze it.

Meanwhile, Perfuma held a potted plant. She might’ve been trying to talk to it, but nothing seemed to be working. At least she was starting with little steps, though. Even so, she kept having to take deep breaths. Adora could tell she was starting to lose her patience. On several occasions, though, she’d look over to Scorpia, who was just sitting in a corner quietly. Were they smiling at each other? Scorpia probably didn’t know what to try in order to use her powers again. 

Adora sighed, her breath slightly fogging the glass. Had she gotten to Light Hope sooner, she could’ve stopped the Heart of Etheria from using the princesses as batteries. At least, that’s what she thought.  _ ‘If I’m not able to keep the princesses safe… how am I supposed to be able to save Glimmer?’ _ With that question in mind, Adora, holding herself, continued down the hall.

* * *

Blue, gray, pink and purple. Those colors varied randomly around Glimmer’s room, Micah noted. He was surprised at how similar everything was to his memory. He thought it’d have a completely different look that matched  _ his _ tastes more, considering how often he heard about Glimmer taking after him. At least they had one thing in common when it came to their rooms: clothes lying around where they shouldn’t. This brought a soft, warm smile to his face. 

Looking around, Micah peaked through the stained glass to look at the Moon Stone standing like a beacon, memories of Angella racing through his thoughts. She wasn’t the one he wanted to be thinking about, though. Curious, and wanting to bring his thoughts back to Glimmer, he climbed up to Glimmer’s bed, his hands and knees sinking much easier than he remembered. It was probably because it was a new bed, he gathered. He lied on the bed, hoping to see what mornings were like for Glimmer. 

The bed was too soft for him. But, in that softness, he felt a hardness under the pillow. He sat up and pulled up the silk-covered pillow to find a diary.  _ ‘Old habits die hard,’ _ he thought to himself with a slight chuckle, remembering good times. Glimmer would run around Bright Moon finding anything to write or draw about, excited to do only that. As happy as the memory of little Glimmer running around with a notebook made him, a thought saddened him. She was always such an open book when it came to her feelings. Angella wasn’t quite like that. He wondered if that got in the way of Glimmer’s openness, resulting in her ranting in her diary. 

Micah stared at the diary, wondering if he should read what’s inside. Ultimately, he shook his head, sliding the diary under the pillow.  _ ‘They’re her personal thoughts. I shouldn’t.’ _ With that, Micah leapt down back to the floor, his hair whipping with the landing. As he moved hair out of his face, he decided to finally put it back up now that he had the means, which then reminded him of how often Glimmer would pull his hair when it was down. This once again brought a smile to Micah’s face only for it to plummet into curiosity moments after when he noticed a cyan cloth draped over the chair before her desk. 

Micah reluctantly picked it up, coming to the conclusion that this was a cape.  _ ‘Of course,’ _ he thought to himself,  _ ‘she loves capes just like me.’ _ Admiring the cape in his hands, he couldn’t help but wonder if Glimmer would goof around with it, or how often it got in her way in a fight. Probably happened more often than she’d admit, based on what he’d heard of her so far. He looked forward to asking her himself only to remember that he may not have the chance to. He wanted badly to believe that things would turn out okay, but if he’d learned anything from the past fourteen years, it was that, if within the realm of possibility, a situation would always get worse. 

A figure stood in the corner of his eye, grabbing his attention, ready to fight if need be. Adora stood at the doorway to Glimmer’s room, concern painted all over her face with a hint of wariness. Maybe she recognized his readiness for combat.  _ ‘Not Beast Island anymore. Right.’ _ He let himself relax, placing the cape back on the chair. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Adora said, stepping into the room. She sat on one of the steps to Glimmer’s bed, her elbows resting on her knees.

“Something wrong?”

“Hm?” Adora made eye contact, helping Micah realize her eyes matched Glimmer’s cape. “No. I just, uh…” She looked wistfully at Glimmer’s bed. It wasn’t difficult for Micah to recognize the dismal in her face. “I just miss her right now is all.”

“I’m sure she misses you too,” Micah smiled, sitting beside Adora. 

Adora inhaled slowly, her brows raising for a split second as if to laugh at that statement in her head. “I doubt it. It’s like I told you, I, um… I haven’t been the kind of person she’s needed.”

Micah stifled small laughter, wanting so badly to bring up how an image of Adora, as well as Bow, was taped to the hardcover of Glimmer’s diary. “Everyone has ups and downs,” he reassured, patting Adora on the back. “I’m willing to bet she’ll be ecstatic to see you again.”

“ _ If _ we see each other again,” she grumbled, fidgeting with her fingernails. 

Micah nodded slowly, understanding. “You have your doubts, too?” To that, Adora only nodded. “Why?”

Adora sat straight, looking at the ceiling in thought as she leaned back on her hands. “I dunno. Maybe because we can’t get anything done until the princesses reconnect to their Runestones because what happened last night took that away from them. Or maybe because I can’t turn into She-Ra anymore. Or maybe because Horde Prime’s entire armada is here and we’re terribly outnumbered all because I brought Etheria out of Despondos.”

“You can’t possibly blame yourself for that. You told us that that was the First Ones’ fault.  _ They’re _ the ones who planted the Heart of Etheria.”

“And it was  _ my _ sword that almost used it to destroy the planet.”

“Which  _ also _ came from the First Ones. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s always them and never you.” Adora looked at him. For a second there, he thought she got annoyed; she looked… happy? Sad? Maybe somewhere in between? He couldn’t tell. He could only guess that he’d said something that reminded her of Glimmer. 

The two sat in silence for a while. Adora was the one to break it when she stood with energy that pretty much came out of nowhere. “We have a briefing to get to,” she said, helping him up from the golden stair; she left the room with a pep in her step, the sight bringing a smile to his face as he couldn't help but imagine how Glimmer would walk beside her. 

* * *

The room was darkened, only dimly illuminated by the hologram of each Runestones glowing purple in the center of the room. Mermista stood, one hand on her elbow and the other at her chin in thought. She hated this viciously. The only reason she chose to fight the fight in the first place was because She-Ra was on the board. It gave her a hope that a new princess alliance composed of princesses of power could win. Here they were, though. Powerless, and She-Ra-less.  _ ‘Guess there’s no backing down now.’ _

“Okay, so,” Mermista started, grabbing everyone’s attention, “it’s obvious that our powers, like, aren’t working or whatever because of the Heart of Etheria. Is that what it’s called?” Mermista asked, looking to Adora, who only nodded. “Right. Well, that’s a problem if we plan on fighting or whatever. We all need to get our powers - and Glimmer - back, especially since She-” Mermista dragged out the “e” as she made eye contact with Perfuma across the holo-table, who was frantically shaking her head and gesturing to Adora, which led to Mermista looking to Adora. Mermista could tell Perfuma was attempting to discourage her from bringing up She-Ra, and even Mermista wished it would’ve worked, but it was too bothersome to stop herself mid-sentence. “eee-Ra’snotinplayanymore,” she finished quickly, Adora becoming visibly upset anyway. 

“Subtle,” Bow commented as Perfuma sighed, wiping her face with both hands. 

Adora’s feelings weren’t the priority, though, so Mermista moved on. “Yeah, I’m  _ pretty _ sure if we, like, bond with our Runestones again, we should get our powers back.”

“I mean, yeah,” Bow spoke, “but where do we even  _ start? _ ”

“I think we need to agree on something else first,” Adora said, “Salineas should be last.”

Micah looked to Adora, his head cocked curiously. “Why?”

“It’s under Horde occupancy,” Adora replied, “we need all the power we can get if we’re gonna take it back so Mermista can get to her Runestone.”

“Yeah,” Mermista agreed, “I was thinking that, too. And boats. We’ll need boats.”

“I-” Sea Hawk spoke up.

“We can set them on fire if we need to,” Mermista assured. Sea Hawk, however, looked like he had more to say. Mermista had a guess or two, but she didn’t want him to say what she thought he was going to say.

“With that out of the way,” Bow brought back the topic, “what’s first?”

“The Horde isn’t in the Fright Zone anymore,” Perfuma said, “At least, that’s what Scorpia said.”

Scorpia looked like she didn’t like being put on the spot so suddenly. “U-um, yeah! I totally chased them out of there, but… isn’t that kinda far from here?”

“If that’s true,” Adora started, “Then everyone that fled from the Fright Zone is probably waiting for us at Salineas. Plumeria is closest to us, why not there?”

“Because then that gets us further from the other kingdoms,” Perfuma said.

“Well, we gotta go there at some point anyway,” Adora countered, “Might as well get it out of the way.”

Mermista agreed, nodding. “She’s right. Plus, it’s, like, the smallest out of our kingdoms, and I don’t feel like going through the hassle of a whole kingdom right now.”

“And Salineas,” Shadow Weaver brought up, “what’s the plan for retaking it?”

“Punching,” Frosta announced.

“We don’t need one,” Mermista waved, “we do better at improvising, anyway.”

Shadow Weaver clearly stifled laughter under her mask, “You can’t be serious.”

“It’s how we beat you,” Adora said under her breath, but loud enough for Mermista to hear. 

“I feel like we’re missing someone,” Sea Hawk finally said. 

_ ‘Please, no.’ _

Like always, right on cue, clacking of hooves entered the room, “Did someone say Swift Wind?”

Mermista could hear her own groan echo in the room. “No,” she said flatly.

“There is…  _ something _ else I’d like to address,” Shadow Weaver said, placing her fingers together as usual, “what are we to do about Bright Moon’s defenses should there be an attack? We don’t know what Horde Prime is capable of, after all.”

Something sparked in Mermista’s mind. Not an idea, just annoyance. She wanted so badly to ignore Shadow Weaver’s question, but she knew it was too important not to answer. But, knowing someone else would answer, Mermista simply chose not to address it and instead say, “I’m - I’m sorry, are you still our prisoner? How does this work?”

“Should be,” Adora mumbled as she crossed her arms.

“She’s right,” Micah sighed, “it never hurts to be too careful.”

“I’m all the defense you need!” Frosta proudly exclaimed.

“Could Netossa perhaps make a safety net?” Perfuma asked, making Frosta pout.

Bow shook his head, “They’re out celebrating their anniversary, we should let them have this.”

“Micah and I  _ could _ make a shield,” Shadow Weaver proposed.

“I’ve been on Beast Island for almost fifteen years, I’d be too rusty,” Micah said.

“Couldn’t you just use other members of the Sorcerer’s Guild?” Scorpia asked.

“Not even close to Micah’s power level,” Shadow Weaver said, shaking her head in disappointment.

“Or She-Ra and I can-” Swift Wind stopped himself, looking at Adora sadly as she merely rolled her eyes, “oh, sorry.”

“Um,” Bow stuttered, “guys, I-I  _ know _ she’s kinda our prisoner, but… maybe Entrapta could help.” The room fell silent, allowing Bow to continue. “She and I could work together to make some kind of shield.”

“Do you have what you need?” Adora asked.

“Maybe,” Bow nodded slowly, “but the best person to ask would be Entrapta.”

“Wait, wait,” Mermista said, raising her hands a bit, “you want us to trust her with something like that? Didn’t she, like, make murder-bots just for us?”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Asked Bow.

Mermista didn’t feel like thinking, so she only shrugged at his question.

“Then it’s settled?” Bow asked, looking around the room for approval. The room was silent once again. “I guess we’re doing this, then.”

DAY 1: ALWYN - 10:00

Spinnerella slept peacefully, the silk cover of her pillow bringing comfort in her dreams until comfort came in a different form; feeling Netossa’s cold nose pressed against her cheek, waking her up. She felt her lips stretch into a smile, her eyes still struggling to open as she woke; her heart skipped a beat at the sound of Netossa’s voice, “Good morning, lovely.”

Spinnerella rolled onto her stomach, her face buried in the pillow as her brain gathered the words she wanted to say. “You’re up early,” she muffled, her hands and knees moving to help her sit up. She felt the sunlight’s heat wash against her back.

“Well, duh,” Netossa replied, “gotta keep you on your toes.” Just as Spinnerella managed to open her eyes, she felt something warm and flat plop onto the pink blanket over her lap - a plate holding scrambled eggs, toast, and a strawberry. “Took me a couple of tries,” Netossa chuckled. Spinerella grinned at the sight as Netossa kissed her cheek. “Happy anniversary, Spinny.”

“Beloved,” Spinnerella breathed, feeling herself at a loss for words. “I-I don’t know what to say!”

“How about ‘happy anniversary’?” Netossa teased with a nudge.

“Happy anniversary!” Spinnerella giggled. “How - how many dishes did you dirty up trying to make this?!” She asked, pushing some of the scrambled eggs onto the toast and picked it up to take a bite.

“You, uh… you don’t have to worry about that. I got it.”

Spinnerella’s eyes widened as she took a bite, quick to swallow it to speak, “I’m sorry, did you just say you’re gonna do the dishes without me asking you to?”

“Anything for you,” Netossa answered with a smile, leaning her head on Spinnerella’s shoulder. “I love you.”

Spinnerella put the toast down to wrap her arms around Netossa, the latter’s body fitting perfectly in her embrace. “I love you too.”

* * *

Netossa enjoyed a picnic with Spinnerella by a lake. The sun directly above them, the waters shone beautifully, and the grass blades brushed against each other softly to the tune of the gentle winds. The scenery gave Netossa chills.

The two watched a child chasing a duck around; Netossa was full of amusement. “That kid’s gonna regret it as soon as that duck finds its mama,” Netossa quipped with a smirk.

“No kidding,” Spinnerella said, her tone somewhat flat as she forced a chuckle to follow. That was her usual way of trying to hide the fact that something was on her mind. At this point in their marriage, Netossa never missed it.

“What’s wrong?” Netossa asked, placing a hand over Spinnerella’s.

Spinnerella made that face - the one that meant she was gathering her thoughts before speaking. “Um… Beloved, have you, um… have you thought about what I asked you?”

_ ‘What you asked me?’ _ Netossa felt a flash in her mind as she recalled her conversation. She clenched her teeth, agitated. “No.”

“Okay,” Spinnerella simply answered.

“I don’t understand where you’re coming from here. Not at all.”

“I just thought it’d be nice for your family to be in our lives a little more.”

“They can chew on sand for all I care.”

“You don’t mean that.”

Netossa pulled her hand away, now hugging her knees to her chest as she stared off. “They didn’t even come to our wedding,” she grumbled.

“Did you expect them to come without you fixing things with them first?”

Netossa remained quiet, not wanting to admit that she intended to fix things  _ at _ the wedding. She only sighed, closing her eyes.

“Maybe they felt they didn’t deserve to come,” Spinnerella suggested. “Maybe they felt guilty.”

“Maybe,” Netossa admitted. “I don’t regret my decisions. If I didn’t leave to fight the fight, I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t have met you, ya know?”

Spinnerella nodded quietly, now rubbing Netossa’s back. “If you need me to, I can go with you to talk to them.”

“I don’t know if I  _ want _ to. It’d be pretty awkward. ‘Hey, it’s your daughter. You know, the one who told you guys to die if you’re not willing to fight’?”

“You were young.”

“And stupid.”

“That kind of comes with the ‘young’ part,” Spinnerella quipped with a smirk. “People change. You never know how different someone from your past can be unless you meet them again-”

Screams were heard further into the village. “You hear that, right?” Netossa asked. With a mere look into each other’s eyes, they agreed to investigate. 

* * *

Netossa and Spinnerella arrive at the village just as a green cloud of smoke erupted from the center. Spinnerella showed no hesitation to round up the gas with her wind powers, spreading it too thin to have any effect when inhaled. As she did so, Netossa managed to spot a robot of some sorts in the distance, aiming its laser gun at her wife; she threw a net at it, tangling it up while she took the opportunity to run over and kick it down. 

Once it was down, Netossa looked up to find an army of bots and… Hordak? Hordaks? They looked like Hordak, but they were all white, and they were all marching into the village.  _ ‘What the…?’ _

“Beloved?” Spinnerella called out as she ran up behind her. “Is this the Horde?!”

“Has to be.”

“I thought the Princess Alliance was going to win last night. What does this mean?!”

“Your guess is as good as mine. We need to get everyone out of here ASAP.”

The struggle was unlike anything Netossa and Spinnerella had faced on their own before. The villagers screamed for help, explosions decimating their homes while the heroes had no choice but to stick together and have each other’s backs. They’d get swarmed too easily if they were apart. The number of these Hordak things and high-tech bots seemed to never end no matter how many were destroyed. “How about that thing we practiced?” Spinnerella asked, out of breath.

“You’ve already lost so much energy, Spinny!”

“It’s the only way we can win!” Spinnerella used her wind powers to pile up some of the people running around and hiding, “Do it!”

She didn’t know if it was Spinnerella’s sudden ferocity that stunned her, but Netossa, with no time to think, casted a net over all of the piled up innocents to keep them safe from the attack, prompting herself to hold onto Spinnerella’s arm to brace herself.

Spinnerella screamed, a burst of wind blowing back all of the enemies, the attack’s scale being twice the size of the village. The wind sliced up all of the bots, their small explosions occurring like falling domino, while the Hordak things were caught in their explosions, becoming more and more damaged the longer Spinnerella kept up her attack. It wasn’t her first time doing an attack like this, but she’d never done it at such a scale. Though Netossa’s eyes were shut, she could almost see Spinnerella getting weaker. Her arms and legs shook, and before she knew it, the wind wasn’t so intense anymore as Spinnerella fell to her knees, wheezing.

“Spinny,” Netossa called as she knelt, undoing the net spell around the innocents, “can you stand?”

“Give- give me a minute,” Spinnerella said, breathless.

Netossa looked to the farmers, waving them off. “Go, before reinforcements get here!” Without a second thought, the families of the village fled. Netossa helped Spinnerella stand up, “We should get out of here, too.” Suddenly, Spinnerella looked on, her eyes widening in horror as her irises shook. Netossa looked forward, feeling the color leave her face as more bots and Hordaks emerge from the woods. “Why… why are there already more…?” Netossa quietly asked herself. 

Suddenly hearing something tap the ground behind them, Netossa turned to find a bot ready to fire. On instinct, Netossa made a shield around them with a net, successfully deflecting the bot’s laser as she fell to her knees with Spinnerella. “What are we going to do?” Spinnerella asked, her voice shaky.

Netossa looked around, watching the enemies blast and punch the net in an attempt to break it. Her head felt numb at the sight, her heart racing.  _ ‘Calm down,’ _ she told herself,  _ ‘they can’t break through. At least, not that easily.’ _ With that in mind, Netossa took a deep breath. She stood, spreading her arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Relax, Spinny, I got this,” Netossa answered with a wink, hoping it’d calm her down a little. She knew how Spinnerella felt about tight spaces, after all. With her arms spread, Netossa reverses the net spell, the net undoing while reforming around her enemies simultaneously. “It worked!” She exclaimed with a grin. Again, she helped Spinnerella to her feet. “I dunno how durable these nets are, but it’ll be enough time to get out of here.”

Netossa made a net underneath them to lift them out of the funnel net, allowing them to easily walk over it. “I-I didn’t know you could do that,” Spinnerella commented.

Netossa looked at her wife with an uneasy smirk, “Me neither,” she admitted. 

It didn’t take long for the net to vanish. The two turned to the enemies. “Can you trap them in a better net?” Spinnerella asked.

Netossa opened her palm, forming a magical net-ball. “Not big enough to trap  _ any _ of them _. _ ” She knew Spinnerella was in no shape to keep fighting, and they’re in no shape to get away without getting shot at the least. Netossa looked at Spinnerella. Though grimed down, she was still the most beautiful, most perfect girl in the world in her eyes. “I love you,” she said quietly.

Spinnerella’s deep, blue eyes met Netossa’s. In this moment, they both had the notion that this was where it ended. There was so much left to do in a life after war. So many things left unsaid. All of those things unsaid, however, Netossa felt could be communicated in those three words. Spinnerella smiled softly, her lips quivering as a tear fell. “I-I love you too.” 

Their hearts ached as the army marched closer. They took each other’s hands, Netossa’s thumb stroking Spinnerella’s knuckle as she felt hot tears sting her eyes. “I love you so much.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more than anything.”

“I love you more than  _ everything _ .”

“Happy anniversary.”

“Happy anniversary, my beloved.”

With trembling limbs, the two closed their warm eyes, leaning in to join their lips in a soft, magical kiss.

DAY 2: FRIGHT ZONE - 13:11

A few bots remained in the vicinity. The rest had moved on, trusting Adora to take care of them herself. Adora held her staff in one hand, studying the bots’ movements. She counted six of them.  _ ‘Should’ve been easier than this,’ _ Adora grumbled to herself, twirling her staff in preparation.  _ ‘This place was supposed to be clear of enemies.’ _

Ready to finish this minor struggle, Adora charged at one of the bots, weaving its laser blast as she countered with a swift strike to the head with her staff. Her strike was hard enough to knock off the head, only electric wires short circuiting remaining at the neck.  _ ‘Five left.’  _ As that bot fell, Adora used the momentum of her counterattack to spin and charge her next attack on a nearby bot; the bot simply leaned away to dodge, kicking her in the stomach with unstoppable force, knocking her onto her back.

Just as she landed on her back with a rough grunt, another bot attempted to stomp on her, but she managed to roll to the side quickly enough based on pure instinct. When she stood, she was immediately grabbed from behind by yet another bot, its arms stiffly wrapped over hers as the bot that tried to stomp on her reached to grab her face, its palm containing a glowing, green hole in it. Adora didn’t want to find out what it was for; she placed the sole of her boot onto the bot’s hand for leverage to do a backflip out of the grapple, wounding up behind the bot that grabbed her; she swatted her staff at its ankles to make it fall. Once it fell, she jabbed the end of her staff into the back of the bot’s neck - right into the green hole, seemingly shutting it off.  _ ‘Four left-’ _

As Adora withdrew her staff out of the bot, another shot its laser at the now motionless bot beneath her to blow it up, sending her flying. She landed on her side, dropping her staff. She reached for it; a bot shot the staff away from her. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by the four remaining bots, all of them aiming their laser guns at her.

Adora frantically searched for a means of escape, but there was nothing. There was no getting past any of the bots, and without that, there was no getting out of being possibly incinerated by the lasers.  _ ‘It was stupid to think I could do this,’ _ Adora cursed herself, shielding her face with her arms to brace for impact.  _ ‘I’m sorry, Glimmer.’ _

Waiting for the blast, Adora noticed the bots were suddenly still, as if on standby. With a sigh of relief, Adora rolled out of the bots’ formation to grab her staff and, taking advantage of the opportunity, defeated the remaining enemies.  _ ‘Not as much of a cake walk as I thought,’ _ Adora thought to herself with a deep exhale, retracting her staff to place it on her belt. And with that, she left to regroup with the rest of the Princess Alliance at the Black Garnet Chamber.

* * *

The vicinity looked so devastating. At least, that’s how Perfuma felt when she looked out the window, standing in the metallic hall just outside of the Black Garnet Chamber with everyone else while they waited for Scorpia to connect to her Runestone. 

Perfuma had only been at this place a handful of times, and she hated it every single time. But this time was different. All she could think about was what Scorpia told her about it - how its desert-like environment was perfect for her exoskeleton. Perfuma thought about what a life after war could look like for Scorpia. Would she want to live in the Crimson Waste where the environment is even  _ better  _ for her? Suddenly, the Crimson Waste didn’t seem as bad as she remembered.

Perfuma shook her head, wondering what things would have been like if the Scorpioni hadn’t granted Hordak refuge all of those years ago. Scorpia probably would’ve been living a happy life with her moms. Everyone’s life would probably be happier, actually. Scorpia, however, was robbed of her royal status, and that was something Perfuma couldn’t find herself to forgive.

“Ugh,” Mermista groaned, “what is  _ taking _ her so long? Villages and towns are being attacked, we can’t be wasting any time!”

Almost as if on cue, Adora came out of the Black Garnet Chamber, but without Scorpia. This was enough to pull Perfuma’s attention away from the window. “Where is she?” She asked.

“She, um,” Adora scratched the back of her head, looking to the floor as though she didn’t know what to say. “She - she doesn’t want her powers.”

“So we came here for  _ nothing? _ ” Mermista asked, crossing her arms.

“Why doesn’t she want her powers?” Perfuma asked, taking a step closer. 

“She won’t really talk to me about it,” Adora answered, shrugging. 

With no need for permission, Perfuma walked past Adora and into the Black Garnet Chamber to find Scorpia sitting before it, her cheeks propped onto her pincers. Quietly, Perfuma came into Scorpia’s view as to not startle her and get paralyzed and sat next to her, hugging her knees. The two sat quietly before the Black Garnet for what felt like eternity before Perfuma finally started, “Scorpia… why don’t you want your powers?”

Scorpia smiled, as usual. “Oh! It’s nothing bad, it’s just… I dunno. It’s something… new? And  _ big? _ And… I dunno, it’s just a really big change I’m not really ready for.”

“None of us are ever truly ready for change,” Perfuma said, but Scorpia only looked away. “Are you… are you afraid of the power?”

Scorpia kept her head to the side, facing away from Perfuma. She finally looked forward again, sighing. “Kinda. It’s not that I don’t think I can control it - I’m great at doing  _ lots _ of things! I’m brave, strong, loyal, and I give  _ great _ hugs! I’m sure I can figure it out, I’m just… I kinda don’t wanna see what happens with it before I, uh, ‘master’ it? Ya know?”

Perfuma smiled, laying a hand on Scorpia’s spiked shoulder. “Scorpia, that’s not something to be afraid of. Failure is to be expected!” Scorpia seemed to have shrunk into herself hearing that.  _ ‘Not what she wants to hear, got it.’ _ “What I’m trying to say is… um… Oh! Did you ever hear of what happened the night Glimmer got her powers?” Scorpia shook her head, urging Perfuma to continue. “She teleported in her  _ sleep. _ Woke up somewhere in the Whispering Woods with a  _ furious _ mother searching for her. Mermista? She nearly flooded her kingdom when she  _ sneezed, _ ” Perfuma laughed. Scorpia laughed too, which brought warmth to Perfuma’s heart. “And my point is…?”

Scorpia stared at the floor, her eyes flickering around as though she’s jumping hoops to reach the conclusion. “Oh. You’re saying all of you were bad with your powers at first?”

Perfuma nodded. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“What… what happened with you? What happened when  _ you _ got your powers?”

“Oh! Um. Well. I, uh… I might’ve… um…” Perfuma rubbed her own shoulder, thinking of how to put it into words. “I may - or may not - had nearly destroyed the Whispering Woods,” she said with an awkward chuckle.

“Whoa. That’s big.”

“It’s really big.”

“Well… if it even took someone like  _ you _ a while to get used to the powers… I guess it’s nothing to be ashamed of after all.”

“‘Someone like me’?”

“Yeah! You’re great! You’re, um, you’re  _ really _ great! You’ve got a good heart and you’re always  _ so  _ nice!”

Perfuma felt heat rise in her face; she could only smile. “O-oh, please, I’m not all that,” she said, waving her hand.

“It’s true,” Scorpia exclaimed as she stood, “you  _ just _ convinced me to try having powers again!”

Again, Perfuma could only smile as she stood, cupping her palms to forge a red velvet lily complimenting Scorpia’s attire; she placed the flower in Scorpia’s hair, who bowed slightly to let her. “I appreciate you saying that,” she said, “but we need to get going.”

“You got it,” Scorpia said, turning to the Black Garnet with her pincers placed proudly at her hips.

DAY 2: VELVET GLOVE - 13:09

Horde Prime entered his dining room to find exactly what he expected: Queen Glimmer and Little Sister at his table, just as he demanded. Behind Queen Glimmer stood two of his clones to keep her in check. He wouldn’t want to underestimate her, after all.

“I hope you’re comfortable, Your Majesty,” he said as he passed them to sit across from Queen Glimmer at the table. “After all,” he continued, placing one of his hands over the other on the table, “I  _ strive _ to treat my guests fairly. I believe we could learn a great deal from another.”

He studied the two at his table. Little Sister sat with her hands on the table, one of her claws tapping against the metal expectantly as she kept her eyes forward. He wondered if, somewhere under her fur, she was sweating. He suspected she knew his intentions with this dinner. Queen Glimmer, meanwhile, stared at the table before her, refusing to make eye contact. She didn’t look too happy. She looked ready to fight. From what he gathered, she led the rebellion against his failed clone. He suspected she wouldn’t take anything lying down. He liked fighters. To him, if he could break a fighter, he could break anything, because nothing had spirit like a fighter. 

Keeping his eyes on Queen Glimmer, his clones placed the meals at the long table. A steaming Trollan crab for him, a dish of Omirosian nutrition cubes for the Etherians. He’d hoped Queen Glimmer would eat at least a little bit, but she remained still, her brows furrowed. This only added to his challenge, however, and it was a challenge he so gladly accepted with a devious smirk.  _ ‘Time to test the waters.’ _ “Your Majesty, I have prepared a delicate for you from Omiros. It’s a world resembling yours, lightyears away. My only intention is to make you feel at home here in my presence.” At least Little Sister ate some, but she wasn’t the one he was trying to appeal to anyway. Queen Glimmer was stubborn. Not surprising, however. “Speaking of your home world, I’m sure you miss it terrible. Allow me,” he said, pointing his finger to the glass behind him.

Queen Glimmer finally looked up to see the window behind him turn into a screen playing recordings of an attack on a village. Etherians screaming, homes set aflame, his bots blasting at his very command. Her irises seem to have shrunk at the sight, her face paling. “Wh-why are you doing this…?” She asked, a drop of sweat shining on her cheek. Without answering, Horde Prime maintained his smirk and snapped his fingers, switching to the recording of the struggle at the Fright Zone he was told was a Horde Base. To his disappointment, however, it was empty, making him doubtful of Little Sister’s information. Queen Glimmer only looked more frightened at the sight of the Princess Alliance battling his bots. Eventually, his bots were defeated - all but a few. One of the glass panes presented a blonde, a formidable one battling the last of his bots at a time. At that, Glimmer stood, her legs shaking as she kept her eyes on the screen. Little Sister only gulped her food down, possibly using that as a distraction. 

_ ‘Learn something new every day,’ _ he mused to himself as he leaned back into his seat. “Something I’ve learned in my time as a ruler: no one is without weakness. That weakness could be anything. It could be an enemy. It could be themself. Or it could be a loved one, just like you. It’s a shame, truly, that she’s a nuisance that must be purged in order to bring peace to Etheria.” To that, a tear fell down Queen Glimmer’s cheek. 

Just then, the bots surrounded the blonde, aiming their laser guns at her. “Stop,” Queen Glimmer cried out, “don’t hurt her!” Before she went any further, she attempted a deep breath, but it was more a wheeze. She terribly feigned composure as tears continued to roll down her face. To keep her talking, he sent an order to the bots to stop all movements. “You - you want to use the weapon, right? The Heart of Etheria? Y-you need  _ all _ of the princesses and that  _ includes _ her! Without She-Ra, the Heart of Etheria is  _ useless! _ You  _ can’t _ hurt her!” As she spoke, the blonde dispatched the last of his bots in the Fright Zone, but he didn’t care much. What mattered was getting Queen Glimmer to talk. 

_ ‘So *this* is She-Ra…’ _ “Very well,” he said softly, turning the screens off, prompting Her Majesty to sit down. Little Sister didn’t seem to be amused. She knew exactly what he was thinking - that she no longer had information he wanted. “This has been  _ most _ illuminating. Thank you, Your Majesty. I  _ truly _ look forward to more of our dinners. But, for now, eat up.” And with that, Queen Glimmer finally started eating.  _ ‘Another one broken.’ _

DAY 2: SALINEAS - 15:00

The Princess Alliance was lucky their improvisation worked. When they arrived to Salineas, all they could see were the Horde’s ships. For only a moment, they were hopeless; Adora had the bright idea for Frosta to freeze as much of the water as she could so they could at least get on the ships before arriving to Salineas’ land. 

With the boats stuck in place in the frozen water, Adora and her friends boarded to fight, her knuckle paling at her grip on her staff. She immediately recognized the numbering on the number plates of the Horde soldiers’ armor. This was the 77th batch. She only knew one person in this batch, and Adora was determined to find her.

Walking with her staff now retracted and at her belt, a Horde soldier came at Adora with a sword; Adora managed to deliver a one-two punch to their face before they could use the sword, followed by grabbing them by the throat and forcing them to the floor. Walking more in search of her enemy, another Horde soldier approached with a kick, to which Adora merely stepped to the side to dodge, wrapping her arm underneath their leg mid-kick and setting her hand on their chest to flip them onto their back, stomping on their face as she continued to walk. She heard her voice, she knew she was close, but before she could follow the voice, yet another soldier came at her with a punch; Adora beat them to it by punching their face, stunning them momentarily - but long enough for Adora to calculate her next move. She wrapped her arms around their waist, lifted them and spun a full 360 before slamming them onto their back. 

Just a few more steps, and she found her -  _ Octavia. _ Much to Adora’s surprise, Octavia found herself a weapon during her time at Salineas. She usually liked to settle things with her bare hands, but it’s not entirely surprising she found more joy in something as destructive as her large hammer. With a mere look, both she and Octavia knew that they would be each other’s opponents while everyone else fought around them.

Octavia swung her hammer, prompting Adora to hold up her staff to block it; her staff flew out of her hands, and shortly after, Octavia kicked her onto her back. Octavia swung her hammer down on Adora; Adora rolled to the side and stood. Octavia swung to the side once, then twice, Adora dodging both times; Octavia then jabbed the end of the hammer at her face, prompting Adora to lean back to dodge, nearly falling onto her back.

Quickly, Adora knelt and picked up a large sword from a defeated Horde member as Octavia, again, swung her hammer down; Adora blocked perpendicularly, the sword nearly spinning out of her hand on impact.

While picking up the hammer once more, Octavia used the hammer’s weight to steer her towards Adora, swinging sideways; Adora blocked - or, more accurately, delayed the attack enough to get out of the way once the hammer got past her sword. 

Before Adora could do much else, Octavia rushed her with her shoulder, then started picking the hammer up. As she did so, Adora took the opportunity to swing her heavy sword downward, simultaneously kicking Octavia’s shin to drop her to one knee. Octavia managed to lift the hammer up to block perpendicularly with the handle, ensuing a power struggle as they both pushed through their weapons. 

Octavia prevailed, swinging her hammer sideways at Adora’s midsection; Adora hopped back to evade, only to then lift her sword to block Octavia’s next attack by the handle of her hammer, ensuing yet another power struggle. Octavia used her bare hand to push Adora’s sword down, following with the rear of the handle striking Adora across the face, then kicking her into the mast of the ship, her sword falling out of her hand on impact as her eyes shut, wincing.

Adora opened her eyes to see the lethal end of the hammer coming straight for her face; she orbited around the mast to dodge, the base becoming damaged as she stood on a knee. Octavia swung again at a more diagonal angle; Adora fell to her side to dodge, the impact damaging the base further. Octavia wouldn’t give up, she spun with her next swing; Adora leapt backward to dodge, the mast now falling; Adora rolled to the side to dodge the mast, said mast crashing and breaking into the ice keeping the ship still and sending the ship in a violently rocky motion. 

Octavia clearly struggled to keep her balance as she held onto her hammer. Adora found herself unable to stand up with the rocking bringing her down at every turn. She looked up to find Octavia with her hammer raised; to both of their surprise, an arrow with a rope attached struck the floor beside Octavia, the rope in front of her. Both of them looked to the source to find Bow, mid-air, landing behind Octavia as he hooked the rope around the side of her neck to yank her down. With all of the rocking, Adora found her staff rolling toward her. She caught it, found a means to stand, and swung at Octavia’s face, knocking her out.

* * *

On what only meant to be a lone walk along the shores of Salineas, the debris in the ocean taken by the waves, Adora found Sea Hawk sitting on a rock with an ankle on his knee, using the bottom of his boot to hold up the blade of his laser sword as he used a wipe to… clean it?  _ ‘How does *that* work?’ _

Adora merely shook her head and intended to keep walking, but Sea Hawk had noticed her and shot her a smile; she somehow felt guilted into smiling back, even if the smile felt forced on her part. “Hi Adora,” he said, scooting to make space for her. 

She shrugged, not seeing a reason not to sit with him, so she did. “Hey.”

Sea Hawk looked away from Adora - not to his sword, but up at the Pearl with a smile. Adora looked up with him, seeing Mermista up there glowing like a goddess as she reconnected to her respective Runestone. “Isn’t she just gorgeous?”

Adora smiled, nodding, but both her smile and head quickly fell at the thought of seeing Glimmer reconnecting to  _ her _ Runestone and how slim those chances were. 

As if he read her mind, Sea Hawk laid a hand on her shoulder with a soft smile. “You’ll experience this, too. Don’t you worry. We’re in this together.”

Adora looked at Sea Hawk, and seeing his expression - it brought a genuine smile out of her as she rested her hand on his hand on her shoulder, closing her eyes and sighing. “I hope so,” she breathed out. 

Footsteps approached behind them; they looked back to find Bow, his weapon in hand. Probably in the case that he found a straggler from the Horde. Almost as if tagging out for Bow, Sea Hawk patted Adora’s shoulder and stood with his blade. “Hi Bow!”

“Hey,” Bow replied, walking past Sea Hawk as the latter left to sit with Adora. “What’s going on?”

“We were just talking,” Adora replied, shrugging. She knew what he was  _ actually _ asking about, but it wasn’t something she really wanted to talk about. She didn’t want to look at Bow because she knew he’d be giving her  _ that _ look.

“You know that’s not what I meant,” Bow said, tilting his head to try to meet her eyes.

“Well… what  _ did _ you mean?” Adora asked, wanting to stall as much as she could.

“You’ve been off your game. Falling a lot. Losing your weapon a lot. I mean, you still win, but you struggle more than ever. At least, from my experiences. What’s going on? You know you can tell me, right?”

Adora could feel her lip tighten almost into a quiver just at the thought. Nervous, she scratched her nose and sniffed, once again stalling to collect her thoughts. “What do you expect?” She said, her throat feeling tight. “I can’t turn into She-Ra anymore, so of course fights are gonna be harder for me.”

“I meant your fights as Adora, not as She-Ra. The way you are now, I’ve never seen you struggle so hard. That can’t be it-”

Adora finally looked at Bow, a warmth coming to her eyes as her heart throbbed. “She-Ra. She can lift one of those ships with one hand. She leaps incredible bounds. She can shoot energy from her sword and can make the princesses around her more powerful. Most importantly? She-Ra can  _ heal _ others. That’s  _ extremely _ useful in the field,” Adora said, feeling a single tear fall to her nose, but she didn’t care enough to wipe. Bow didn’t look like he was going to say anything, so she kept going. “What about me? I can punch, I can kick, I can spin a fancy staff. That’s it. What am I supposed to do if someone gets hurt? Just hope they don’t  _ die? _ ”

“Adora,” Bow said softly, reaching for her hand. She sniffled, taking it for comfort. “I know. We’re weaker without She-Ra. I won’t lie. But that doesn’t mean we’re not capable of doing anything. Just look at what we’ve accomplished today!”

“Bow, I almost died against those bots at the Fright Zone. I was so scared, I really thought everything I’ve done in my life was just going to end right there. And Octavia? I would’ve been  _ squashed _ if it weren’t for you and I couldn’t thank you enough for that.”

Bow sat silently in thought and took a deep breath. “We’re at war, Adora,” he said, maintaining his composure. “This stuff happens, with or without She-Ra. You’re an expert at hand-to-hand combat, you’re skilled in navigation and survival, you make for a great leader, and you have one of the best hearts ever.”

Adora took a deep, shaky breath as she wiped her tears, sitting quietly with Bow as the waves crashed against the shore before them. “Is that gonna be enough to save Glimmer?” She asked quietly.

In her peripheral vision, she could see Bow’s head lower, whether out of sadness or thought, she couldn’t tell. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “Only time will tell.”

Adora wanted to bite back, but she kept her mouth shut. The conversation was starting to get pointless. It’s taking everything within her to not rush in and save Glimmer, but to wait and fight for what was right. All she could do was wait for the right moment. 

DAY 2: VELVET GLOVE - 13:38

Horde Prime had summoned her to his throne room. She’d probably get there faster if this place wasn’t built like a maze. Catra grumbled to herself every time she realized she was going the wrong way. This was difficult to navigate even  _ with _ a map. As she ventured, however, she managed to catch a glance at his clones bringing in prisoners. Princesses she’d seen before fight at Adora’s side. She didn’t know their names, but they definitely  _ looked _ like princesses.  _ ‘Serves them right,’ _ Catra figured.

Once finally in the throne room, she was annoyed at the sight of his stupid smirk as he sat all the way on the other side of the room, clones surrounding the two of them like they were in some sort of colosseum. “What do you want?” Catra asked, stepping forward; a bot shot a laser before her, stopping her dead in her tracks. “Hey! What’s the big deal?!”

“If you are to address me, kneel,” he said, his hands falling into his lap. Catra scoffed, she couldn’t believe the conviction in his words. Before she knew it, a clone behind her kicked the back of her knee; she fell on all fours. “That’s much better,” said Prime. “You ought to know when to listen.”

Catra wanted to launch herself toward him and just end it right there, but his clones would probably kill her after.  _ ‘Just wait. Just a little longer and you’ll win. Just… wait…’ _ Catra took a deep breath, “What do you want?” She asked again, slower.

“This is less about what I want,” he started, “but what left you can give me. As you saw earlier, Queen Glimmer has all of the information you have - if you had it at all, that is.”

Catra sat up on one knee, meeting Prime’s eyes. “Look-”

“The Fright Zone was supposed to be full of soldiers loyal to me, but it wasn’t.”

Catra swore she felt her heart stop at those words.  _ ‘Huh? What the…?’ _ “I-”

“You’ve incapacitated my men. It appears you don’t even have  _ manners. _ Furthermore, you even visited the Queen, which was explicitly forbidden.”

_ ‘Oh my - will he let me talk?!’ _ “There’s-”

“You don’t know when to listen-”

“ _ You _ listen,” Catra finally spoke, “Bright Moon is where they’re holding out. The kingdom is protected by the Whispering Woods and it's  _ really _ hard to get past it. You need me if you’re gonna smoke them out!”

Prime was silent for a moment, clearly in thought. “And why is that?” He asked, bringing his pointed fingers together.

“Because I’m the one who’s gotten closest to conquering the place,” Catra growled. “No one on Etheria knows any better how to fight the princesses!”

Prime spun in his chair to face the stars quietly. The silence didn’t help her racing heart, her mind going in different directions of strategizing if she failed to convince him to keep her around. She could feel her skin warming up; she was sweating. She didn’t want to admit to herself that there was no way out if he wanted to kill her right then and there. She hated that her entire plan was riding on the small chance that Prime would take her under consideration- “Very well,” he said quietly. “Get out of my sight. For now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that was a LOT, but it was very necessary to set up some key plot lines for the future of this Season 5 rewrite. I definitely wanted Micah to be an actual character and not someone who was brought back for no reason whatsoever. I really wished we got a reunion between him and Castaspella, but the show runners really dropped the ball there. Same goes for the characters being... well, in-character. Especially Glimmer. I definitely feel good about how she was written. Yes, I absolutely just extracted a scene from my other fic, "Stronger Together," don't @ me. OH ALSO!!!! BEFORE Y'ALL GET MAD AT ME FOR SPINNETOSSA... I never said they died ;) As much as I appreciated the extra screen time, Netossa and Spinnerella were still wasted. All we knew about them after their arc was that they love each other, but we've known that for four seasons already. I was so mad that I had to write a whole backstory for Netossa lmao. But, hey, that's why I'm here! To drop what they picked up. And trust me, I plan to pick up much more as this goes on. Until next time? I hope.


	2. Countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With all of the princesses regaining their powers, the Princess Alliance must prepare for an attack on Bright Moon. Meanwhile, Glimmer strives to find a way out of her nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a LOT of trouble figuring out how to structure this chapter. It used to switch between Bright Moon and Velvet Glove like four times, but I figured that might be a little too jarring to switch so often, so I thought maybe this chapter would just be about Glimmer and save all of the Bright Moon portions for chapter 3, but that didn't sit right with me either. I just went with what y'all are getting here, I hope it works well. I really, REALLY hope that I did Entrapta justice in this chapter, and I hope that this doesn't let any of y'all down. Unless you're a season 5 super fan. Then I REALLY hope I let you down. Anyway, let's get this SHOW ON THE ROAD-

DAY 3: VELVET GLOVE - 11:01

Catra watched as the specs of light stained the darkness in space. She sat on the sill of the window, her elbow on her knee and the following hand propping her jaw. She felt the back of her head, hissing slightly at the pain. _‘Jeez. Who knew she could put up such a fight without her powers?’_ She didn’t bother thinking anymore of the incident yesterday. That’s not what mattered. What mattered was how she was nearly at the top. Nothing could stop her. Since she was young, she told herself over and over again that succeeding wouldn’t come without cost; she couldn’t have fathomed the pain in said cost. She felt an emptiness within her. Everyone left her. _‘It was all worth it,’_ she assured herself. _‘They can’t hurt me ever again.’_

As much as she’d wanted this, she had to wonder how differently things would have gone if she gave in all those months ago - when Adora first asked her to leave the Horde. Right away, she told herself that, had she done that, she wouldn’t feel any satisfaction in her life. Adora would keep being over protective - keep making people think Catra couldn’t pull her own weight. She finally asked herself, _‘But… am I satisfied now…?’_ To that, she couldn’t answer.

An empty tin canister suddenly rolled off of the table across from the window. _‘A mouse?’_ Catra wondered, thinking a mouse might’ve been abducted alongside her and Glimmer. That question to herself brought her back to the day her upbringing began. That stupid joke Adora liked to play on her. 

_“IS THAT A MOUSE???”_

_“Where? WHERE??!”_

Catra gave the memory a slight smile only for it to vanish the instant she remembered what followed. Shadow Weaver commending Adora and condemning Catra. _‘But that was the old world’_ , she thought. _‘Shadow Weaver isn’t here anymore. Adora isn’t here anymore. So why am I thinking about stuff like that?’_ Catra’s mind remained devoid of answers for that question. She shook her head off the question, wanting to distract herself. _‘Now where’s that mouse…?’_

Catra searched every nook and cranny of the shiny room. There was no sign of a mouse anymore. _‘Must’ve been my imagination’_ , she thought just before peeking around a table to meet a pair of big, yellow eyes. _‘Imp.’_ She’d wondered what had happened to this devil… child… thing. 

Imp was quick to become defensive, hugging an empty can of food to his chest, growling at the magicat before him. His arms trembled, his tail wrapped around himself. He was afraid, she gathered. She couldn’t blame him. In his point of view, it probably seemed like his caretaker just up and vanished. He was lost. Abandoned. Angry. Afraid. She wondered what Hordak’s last words were to him. Horde Prime wouldn’t want him around, she figured. He probably wouldn’t want something belonging to Hordak that wasn’t of use to him. Could she bring herself to turn him in? Of course not. _‘He can do with one less betrayal.’_ She left, hearing a curious noise as she did so.

Said curious noise followed her throughout the Velvet Glove for hours. Part of her worried he’d get himself caught and killed. The other part felt disappointment in his stealth skills. _‘He deserves to get caught if he keeps making that much noise…’_ Then again, maybe only she could hear him so well due to her magicat hearing. 

Still reminiscent of her uprising, Catra found herself at yet another window, staring into the void, nutrition bar in hand. She’d hoped this view would shake her of these feelings, but they only reminded her more of how alone she was. She remembered the rails she used to perch on in the Fright Zone. Adora used to be up there with her. Scorpia would follow her there to make sure she was okay. Even Lonnie would sometimes pop up, though most of those times it’d be to get her for training or whatever. None of them were there now. 

A chirp erupted beside her, startling Catra to her feet, all of her fur standing to find Imp beside her. _‘Are you kidding me?’_ “What are you doing here? Why are you stalking me, creep?!” She asked, her hands clenching into fists and squishing the nutrition bar. The sensation brought her attention back to her lunch only to realize that Imp, unfazed by her shouting, was focused on her nutrition bar. A sadness quickly devoured her heart as she thought, _‘How long has it been since he’s actually eaten something…?’_

Pondering, she looked at her squashed nutrition bar. _‘Shape is ruined anyway…’_ She looked back into space; she sat on the sill with him, handing him the ration bar. Like some ferocious animal, Imp tore it apart with his teeth, catching Catra off guard completely. Her lips drew into a smirk as he devoured the bar. _‘Maybe I don’t have to be alone after all.’_

“Little Sister,” Horde Prime called from behind her. As Catra turned to find the opposing figure behind her, green eyes squinting, Imp growled at him while climbing to Catra’s shoulder. “What do you have there?”

“I think it’s called ‘Imp’,” Catra answered, raising a brow as she looked at the child. 

“And… why is he here?”

“He, uh…” Catra felt her ears lower as her eyes met the steel floor before the sill. “I just thought-”

“I have no use for such a thing.”

She should have expected this; Catra stood on the sill, Imp remaining on her shoulder, to meet Prime’s eyes. “But-”

“ _Now_ , Little Sister.” Just as Catra opened her mouth to defend Imp, Prime brought a topic to the table that caught Catra off guard. “You wouldn’t want to disobey me _again_ , would you?”

A bump in Catra’s throat made itself present to her, holding her words back. She couldn’t risk throwing away her plan. She couldn’t let sentimentality block the view of her goal. She couldn’t risk stooping to Adora’s level. She was better than Adora. She knew she was. She had to be. Catra tore her eyes from Prime back to the floor, finally mumbling, “I understand.”

“Good. And when you’re done,” Prime started as he turned, bringing his fingers together, “meet me in the War Room. It’s time for you to finally have worth.”

As Prime disappeared down the hall, Catra looked to Imp somberly. He still watched Prime with dread, growling. _‘You shouldn’t have followed me…’_

DAY 3: BRIGHT MOON - 11:48

Bow stood before the door to Entrapta’s cell. He felt his palm getting sweaty, wondering what he’s going to say to her because she was probably upset. He wouldn’t blame her, he’d probably be a bit crabby if he was saved by someone he once thought of as friends only to be locked up. With a twist of the doorknob, he entered, “Entrapta?”

“Bow,” Entrapta exclaimed, her hair propping her up from the sofa she was in.

That was when Bow was reminded that it’s hard for Entrapta to be in a sour mood. “You’re in a good mood.”

“Adora brought me tiny food,” she said with a wide grin, displaying the small cupcakes in her hands, “isn’t it adorable?!”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Bow merely blinked. “Huh?”

“Why wouldn’t I be in a good mood?”

Bow raised a brow, “Well… you’re a prisoner.” She stared blankly. “ _Our_ prisoner.”

Entrapta blinked. “Oh! This is a prison cell?” She asked, looking around the purple and blue colored room, “I thought it was just a room for me!”

Bow smiled, making a step toward Entrapta. “We kinda get that a lot.” He sat next to her on the couch as she lowered herself back into her seat. “So, um… how’ve you been keeping yourself entertained?”

“I built these,” Entrapta said as she pulled something out to proudly present it: a colorful cube.

Bow was taken back by this invention. “What… what is that?”

Entrapta squealed for a second before talking about it - he guessed she was waiting for someone to ask about it. “I call it a ‘rube cube!’ Still working on the name. It was _supposed_ to be an automatic screwdriver, but ideas have a funny way of changing _everything_ for you! Wanna try it?”

Bow found himself at a loss for words. How on Etheria was this supposed to be a screwdriver of… _any_ kind? “I… what?” Bow shook his head off the question, “No, I mean, how did you even get the stuff you needed?!”

“Oh, I crawled through the vents,” Entrapta answered casually as she pointed her hair to the vent in the ceiling, “It’s _so_ much faster!”

Bow sighed, wondering if the noise above his bed the previous night was her messing around in the vents. “I’m… I’m good.” _‘I think I can get to the point now-’_

Suddenly, Entrapta scrambled her hand in her bag, “Oh - wanna try this other thing I made? I call it-”

“Actually, Entrapta, I came here to ask you something.” He said, leaning forward as he brought his hands together, his elbows on his knees.

Entrapta froze like she was afraid he’d ask her something she didn’t wanna answer. “What’s up?”

“We don’t know when the armada is gonna get here. It could be tomorrow, it could be a week. We need a shield for Bright Moon in case that happens. I don’t wanna think about how a fight would go with those things. They can be pretty overwhelming. I don’t think I can build it by myself. Can you help me-” Bow realized she wasn’t next to him anymore. He looked around in search of her, noting the door closed behind him, so she couldn’t have left… “Entrapta?”

With a tiny yell, Entrapta fell from the ceiling, the grate of the vent swaying as it was left open. She sat up, “What? What is it?”

He remembered that being straightforward was best with her. Beat around the bush and something else would catch her attention. “Can you help me build a shield for Bright Moon?”

“A shield?” Entrapta rubbed her chin with her hair in thought, “I don’t think I’ve ever made one!” Bow heard the door open; Entrapta stood with the intention of running. “Let’s go right now- oh, hi, Adora!”

Bow looked over to the door to see Adora standing there, holding it open. “Hey, guys.”

Bow stood from the sofa in concern, “What’s going on?” She only replied with a dreadful look.

* * *

The briefing room’s bright, yellow colors shone from the ceiling lights as everyone surrounded the holo-table, a map of Bright Moon displayed. Adora sighed, readying herself to deliver the news. “Scouts sent a message that the armada is on their way here. At the rate they’re going, they’ll be getting here late in the afternoon.”

Mermista sighed, placing her hands on the holo-table to lean on it. “Seriously?”

Bow crossed his arms, “If that’s true, then…” 

“The shield will have to be made under crunch time,” Adora finished.

Bow shook his head in disbelief with a small scoff at the idea, “I don’t think that’s possible, though! I’ve never even thought of how a shield might work until yesterday! Entrapta, what do you think?” He asked, turning to find Entrapta missing. 

Before Bow could say anything, Frosta stepped up flexing with thick biceps made of ice, “Who needs a shield when we’ve got _these?_ ”

Bow looked around the room quietly. “Entrapta?”

On cue, Juliet entered the room carrying Entrapta under her arm, Emily following closely behind. “Found her in Scorpia’s room,” she said as Entrapta excitedly wiggled her limbs trying to touch Emily again. Adora sympathized with the image - she must’ve missed her. Mermista didn’t share that sentiment as she only sighed.

“Entrapta?” Adora called out.

Entrapta’s limbs went limp as she looked over to Adora with more curiosity than a three-year-old. “Hm? What’s up?”

“Do you think you can make the shield by evening?” Adora asked.

Entrapta rubbed her chin with her hair. “Umm… That’s a lot!” She said, her hair protruding to take the place of a shrugging hand.

“If anyone can do it, I know it’s you,” Scorpia said with confidence seeping out of her heart.

“And Bow would be helping, too,” Perfuma added.

Adora looked to Bow, “You have to at least try.”

“Adora-”

“For me?”

Bow stood, looking at the map of Bright Moon. He sighed, “Fine. We’ll give it a shot.”

Entrapta raised her hair to get everyone’s attention, projecting her voice as well, “That might be a problem, though! For that to even work, we can’t just press a button and boom, shield, someone would probably need to hold the button down!”

Bow nodded, “That would be faster to build… So, who’s gonna hold the button down?”

“With what I have in mind,” Adora started, “I need Mermista, Frosta, Scorpia and Perfuma, so anyone that isn’t that.”

The room went quiet for several seconds. “I’ll do it,” said Bow, “we don’t have time to waste just thinking about it.” And with that, he walked over to Juliet, who dropped Entrapta for him, to leave with her so they could get to it right away.

Once Bow and Entrapta were clear of the room, Adora looked at the Bright Moon map. “Now that that’s settled, I wanna go over the plan.”

“Oh, but I thought improvising was ‘your thing’?” Shadow Weaver asked. 

Adora knew she was just trying to undermine her; she kept her growl low as she regained her composure. “It is, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a basic idea of what we should do. I wanna station some people in specific places. From there, they can improvise. Sound good?”

Frosta raised her giant fist made of ice, “As long as we get to punch, I’m fine with that!”

“Okay.” Adora sighed, collecting her thoughts. “Frosta and Mermista, I’m putting you guys at the front of Bright Moon on ground level.”

“What?” Mermista asked, her body language clearly wanting to challenge that idea. “Why are we on the front lines?”

“There’s water there,” Adora answered, “You’re strongest in water. It’s also a good environment for Frosta to thrive.”

“Ugh,” Mermista groaned, crossing her arms, “fine.”

Adora’s eyes wandered to the other two princesses. “Scorpia and Perfuma, you two stay at the shield generator and protect Bow and Entrapta. Since we have a short time, we don’t know if they’ll be done until the middle of the fight. Anyone or anything comes near them, you know what to do.”

Scorpia smiled, “At least I don’t have to worry about destroying anything that way. I’m for it!”

Perfuma smiled as well, but more in an apprehensive way. “I don’t like the idea of being idle, but… I’ll do it.”

“Thank you,” said Adora. 

Mermista spoke up, “What about the Moon Stone?”

Sea Hawk looked to her, a brow raised, “What about it?” 

Mermista gestured her hand to the Moon Stone, “Last time the Horde came here, someone needed to keep it in check. Like, what if they try to use the Moon Stone to make the weather all crazy again?”

Adora put a finger to her chin as she looked at the area around the Moon Stone, strategizing. “Hmm… you’re right. Micah and Castaspella, you’ll be protecting it.”

“I should join them,” Shadow Weaver suggested, putting her fingers together, “I have experience with a Runestone after all.”

Adora shook her head, “Out of the question. Everyone else is gonna be fighting either on ground level or defending the castle. So Sea Hawk, Swift Wind, Shadow Weaver, Juliet and myself.” 

Swift Wind propped his head up to speak, “Can I be on ground level? I could show them my hooves a lot sooner! In their face! Kicking!”

Adora shrugged, “Sure. So, we’re in agreement?” Adora’s gaze searched the quiet room to find any curious or concerned looks. “Okay. That’s it.” As the briefing room became empty, Adora stepped to intercept Mermista to get her attention. “Hey, Mermista, can I talk to you?”

Mermista looked up at Adora with owlish eyes. She probably didn’t expect anymore interaction with her for a while. “Uh, sure. What’s up?”

Adora felt words come out of her mouth before she could think them up, “Lately, I-”

“Adora!” Entrapta called out as she practically stumbled in, “Can I-”

Adora raised a patient finger to Entrapta, “Hold on.” Entrapta, realizing she was interrupting the moment, hid her hands behind her back to wait as quietly as her mind would let her. Adora took a deep breath to actually think her words through, “I dunno if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t been doing so good.”

“We all noticed, but go on,” said Mermista as she waved.

Adora was taken back by this reaction. “Oh - wow, psh, I-I didn’t think it was _that_ obvious,” she said as she crossed her arms. “Anyway. Without She-Ra, I feel like I’m on borrowed time. One more wrong move and I’ll be six feet under. If… if that ever happens, I trust you… ya know… to take over. As leader. 

By the look of Mermista’s face, Adora could tell she didn’t like the idea. Meanwhile, Entrapta was struggling not to burst her question out, Adora noticed.

“Go ahead, Entrapta,” Adora said, only realizing she interrupted Mermista in doing so shortly after.

Entrapta displayed the broken Sword of Protection with a grin, her eyes sparkling, “Can I use this?”

Adora sighed at the sight, thinking. What Entrapta was holding was what started… everything. How she met Glimmer, why she was able to join the rebellion, and the very reason some of her dearest friends were still alive. She remembered the feeling of wielding that power and the warmth that came with it. She knew, deep down, that if Entrapta uses that for an invention of some sort, she probably wouldn’t be getting it back. _‘But what’s the point of keeping it around if it can’t do anything anymore? It’ll probably be more useful in Entrapta’s hands…’_ Her arms fell to her sides. “Um, sure, go ahead.”

Entrapta squealed and left the room using her hair as feet. Once she was gone, Mermista started over, “I’m sorry, _what?_ ”

Adora looked to Mermista with a smile, “I want you to be vice leader.”

“Okay, but… _what?_ ” Mermista asked again. Adora didn’t really know what she was asking, so she waited for Mermista to specify. “Why? _Me?_ I’m - wow - I’m… _really_ not a good choice. I didn’t even _want_ to join until you - erm, other you - got here.” 

Adora felt herself roll her eyes with her smile; she placed a hand on Mermista's shoulder, “The fact that you’re still here when She-Ra’s gone means you’re a different person now. You're a capable leader, and probably the most powerful out of the elemental princesses. Plus, you have great ideas! Like with the Moon Stone - I _never_ even thought of that!” Mermista stood quietly, staring at their feet. Adora continued, “I mean it. I think you have what it takes. I’m entrusting this,” Adora gestured to the room and the holo-table, “to you.”

Mermista looked at the holo-table with weight behind her eyes. She sighed, her eyes then meeting Adora’s. “Okay. Fine. But that doesn’t mean you can just throw yourself into death, okay?”

Adora smiled once more, “Deal.”

* * *

Bow hadn’t realized he was sticking the tip of his tongue out until he was done drawing schematics and general ideas for the shield. He wiped his lip quickly and slid the drawings to the side over to Entrapta, “This is what I think-” he found the seat beside him empty. Bow glanced around the room where only he, Perfuma and Scorpia resided. “Where's Entrapta?”

Scorpia and Perfuma stopped their conversation to shift their attention back to Bow. When Scorpia realized what he’d asked, she looked around just as he did and only shrugged.

Perfuma smiled awkwardly, rubbing her own neck. “She, um… got away from us.”

Bow sighed, slightly disappointed with himself for forgetting the attention span Entrapta had. “My fault. I took too long, she probably got bored-”

“Bow,” Entrapta shouted as she came out of the vent just above him, hanging by her hair. Bow screamed, his voice scratching his throat as he felt his eyes were about to pop out. As usual with such scares, however, Bow managed to regain his composure in under a second. “Look what I found,” Entrapta started, proudly presenting the broken Sword of Protection, “I was thinking-”

Bow realized her idea, but he had to ask, even if it meant interrupting her, “Did you- Entrapta, did you ask Adora if you could use that?”

Entrapta looked at the sword with a cocked brow, “Um… no?” Bow and the others stared at her quietly. She stared back, shifting her head to meet everyone’s eyes. She gasped softly, “Oh, I’ll go do that,” she said before disappearing into the vents. A few minutes passed; Entrapta came back down through the vents with a wide grin. “She said yes!! I thought this could be _perfect_ for this new kind of toaster I’ve had on my mind-”

Bow blinked hard at Entrapta’s words, shaking his head to himself and raising a hand to get her attention, “What? Wait - it’s not for the shield?” She stared at him, waiting for elaboration. “The one Adora wants us to make?” Entrapta blinked, still waiting. “The one meant to keep the Horde out?”

Entrapta tilted her head curiously for a moment before gasping. “Oh! Well, no, it’s for this new kind of toaster I’ve had on my mind-”

Perfuma sighed, placing a hand over her face in disappointment. Entrapta noticed; her eyes fell to the floor as her shoulders dropped. Her hair put on her mask, and Bow couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a face she was making underneath it. Scorpia leaned over to whisper in Perfuma’s ear. Bow couldn’t make it out, but what he heard was something about Entrapta’s mind working differently from everyone else’s and patience. Perfuma took a deep, quiet breath. “You’re right.”

Bow cleared his throat and stood, “Entrapta… if we don’t make this shield, we… we probably won’t be seeing the next morning. People are counting on us to get this done today.” Bow picked up his schematics from the table, “Here, I’ve sketched up some ideas-”

“Maybe,” Entrapta started quietly; her hair put her mask back up. “... maybe this could actually work with the Runestone here,” she said, holding up the broken Sword of Protection to look at it.

Bow nodded, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Scorpia bowed slightly with a small smile, “What are you thinking?”

Now encouraged, Entrapta starts a tangent as her hair rubbed her chin, “Well, when I was on Beast Island, I read a _lot_ of things the First Ones left behind about She-Ra, and I remember reading something-”

Bow felt like his eyes were gonna pop out when he processed her words, “You learned an alien language?”

Entrapta furrowed her brows as if she was curious on why he questioned it, “Of course I did!”

Perfuma and Bow looked at each other. Perfuma’s brows were raised - she looked impressed. He looked back at Entrapta, “Keep going.”

Entrapta nodded, “I remember reading _something_ about She-Ra being able to make a shield. Maybe the Runestone has the properties we need to generate the material of the shield!”

“That would make things a _lot_ easier,” Bow commented with a sigh of relief, feeling his shoulders become lighter.

“So it’ll get done faster?” Perfuma asked.

Entrapta scratched the top of her head with her hair, “I dunno, I’ve never tried to use the powers of a Runestone.”

Scorpia leaned in to murmur, “Except for that one time with the Black Garnet.”

Entrapta perked up, “Oh yeah!”

“So…?” Perfuma asked once more.

Bow was quick to collect his thoughts to give Perfuma an answer she’d be satisfied with. “We can’t say for sure. But I’m hopeful.” He looked back at Entrapta, his lips stretching into a smile, “Thank you, Entrapta. Let’s get to work.”

DAY 2: VELVET GLOVE - 13:59

There was something inspiring about his collection from all of the worlds under his rule. A set of Krytisian spears were hung on a wall, each having a long cord connected to the rear. A Denebrian stone rested on a table, a religious articact - they’d bow with their heads on it to pray, believing it was the bridge between them and some god. His personal favorite in this room was an artifact from Spira, the first world he’d ever conquered. He couldn’t read its hieroglyphics, he just liked how it looked. It was a shame he had to destroy that world the one and only time he ran low on resources for each of his planets. He couldn’t let sentimentality prevent him from doing what was needed, so he didn’t dwell on it _too_ much. 

Should Horde Prime ever struggle with strategy, he’d come to view his relics in search of ideas from his previous conquests. He stood in the very room residing his collection. Not because he met a wall in his strategy, he didn’t need any ideas. He had nearly everything planned out. He just needed _someone’s_ obedience.

Prime sighed slowly, tapping his pointed fingers together as he collected his thoughts. He wanted to make sure Queen Glimmer wouldn’t turn down his offer, and to do that, he needed to say the exact right words. He’d already sent a clone to bring her - he took this time to think. As he thought, a certain brat came to mind. _‘Little Sister…’_ He grumbled quietly at her mental image. _‘She’s plotting. She had that face - the one from the deformed’s memories. She can’t be left alone; I need clones to keep her in my sights.’_ And with that, a command was already sent to a pair of two clones. _‘The Queen may play a part in her game. Perhaps she needs a new room in a more undisclosed location. That should cause a setback in whatever Little Sister has planned.’_

He sensed his clone approach the ray-shield from the outside of the room. Prime prepared himself, turning to face the shield as it shut off, unveiling his clone and Queen Glimmer; his clone pushed her in and reactivated the ray shield. “Your Majesty,” he started, Queen Glimmer’s face immediately paling at the sound of his voice as they made eye contact, “thank you for joining me. I thought you might enjoy a diversion.” He stepped behind her and took her shoulder, forcing her to walk through the room. Her movements were a tad stiff in her legs and neck as her eyes wandered the room. “Do you like them? Tokens from many worlds, worlds I brought into my eternal light.” 

“Worlds you killed for,” Queen Glimmer grumbled quietly in response.

Prime sighed, stopping with her by a Equinosian flower. “Tell me, Your Majesty, are you a farmer?” She held back any answer in her mind. Bothersome, but he decided to just go on, “Perhaps not. You see, weeds are parasitic plants. They take up space, they rob other plants of nutrients… it’s the very reason they are removed. My only goal is to remove all weeds in all worlds, and to do that, it must be under my rule.” Prime stroked the flower beside them, “I take no joy in destruction, but the weeds must be burned away so that new life may flourish.” 

“You’re sick,” Her Majesty said, her voice shaky. She turned to him, brows furrowed to compliment her furious, pink eyes. “You think you have the right to decide who lives and dies?!”

“Those who die do so for a good cause. Their deaths had meaning. Can you say the same for those who died for your childish war?” To that, Queen Glimmer seemed to bite back at herself, her jaw clenching as she looked to the floor. Almost losing his composure, Prime took a deep breath to regain it, kneeling to be at eye level with Her Majesty. “Your Majesty, how would you like to return to your respective kingdom?” She only gave him an inquiring look, but no answer. “I see the event nights ago rendered you powerless. My only intention is to return your power.”

She looked down once again, but this time in thought. She looked back into his eyes, that seriousness of hers returning, “What’s your game?”

To this, Prime felt saddened. He hoped the promise of her being home would be enough to convince her. Perhaps he had to play his _other_ hand. “You seem reluctant to help me, but I only wish to bring peace to the darkest corners of the universe.” 

“Peace? If you activate the Heart of Etheria, there will be no one left!”

“Yes. No war, no pain. All worlds swept aside, a new beginning for the universe. I know you understand. All I want to do is what you’ve already done.”

“No- no! That- that wasn’t…” Becoming impatient waiting for a proper response, Prime changed his tactic, standing and pointing to the glass to play a recording of the attack on the Fright Zone he never showed her. It was of a bearded man using a staff to perform magic against his bots. His face shape was extremely similar to Queen Glimmer’s. The fighting spirit that resided within him matched Her Majesty’s - he could only assume they were related one way or another. He assumed he was correct in that theory when she froze, her irises quivering at the sight. “Wh-what…? How…? How?!”

“Do you recognize him?” 

A tear came to her eye as she spoke barely above a whisper, “Dad…?” 

“Let me be clear, Your Majesty. Your world belongs to me, but I am still merciful,” he added as he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Would you be reunited with your father in my good graces? Would you reforge your relationship to the Moon Stone?”

She looked at the spears on the wall. Immediately, he felt disappointment, closing his eyes and shaking his head. She yanked a spear off of the wall by its cord and turned to Prime, attempting to stab him; with ease and total composure, he caught her wrist with one hand and grabbed her by her throat with the other, squeezing her wrist until she released the spear as she winced. He kicked the spear away and let go of her, his hands returning behind his back. She felt her throat, wheezing just slightly before she stood strong, looking into his eyes. “I will never help you. You will never win.” 

He sighed, waving to the shield to command his clones behind it to come take her away. He truly hoped he wouldn’t have to resort to such barbaric means to gain her obedience. After all, the only option left was only a prototype. Perhaps he could run tests on those princesses he recently captured to ensure Queen Glimmer’s unconditional obedience. He realized he underestimated her strength; he promised himself to not do so again. “Those who cling to the darkness have made their choice,” he hummed to himself as the clones took her to her new cell.

* * *

_It had just occurred to Glimmer that she was on her way to her room. She’d spent most of the afternoon planning the coronation. Rather, others planned it *for* her. She wasn’t paying much attention to what they were saying and only nodded when asked for her input. What plagued her mind was the thought of not seeing her mother in the morning anymore. She won’t be able to hear her voice calling for her anymore. She won’t be able to hug her anymore. She won’t be able to cry with her. Worst of all, there was no taking back any of the things she’d regret saying to her. She was gone. Glimmer didn’t even get to say goodbye. She was just gone and Glimmer was supposed to just… move on? Keep going? How could she possibly do that?_

_Glimmer felt like she was floating. She wasn’t really controlling her body - her mind was in a million pieces, all of them a memory of Angella. Her body felt like static - black and white while her mind was full of color. She just wanted to stop thinking about everything. She didn’t even want to look in the mirror and see the marks her tears left. Realizing where she was, Glimmer figured she could just teleport to her room and save what little energy she had left. Sleep was all she wanted._

_She closed her eyes, ready to teleport when suddenly, someone called out her name. “Glimmer!” Glimmer opened her eyes and turned, finding Adora approaching her. She stopped running once she caught up, “Can… can I walk you to your room?”_

_Glimmer really wanted to sleep. She really needed to stop thinking about her mother. ‘But… maybe Adora can help me get my mind off of it until I get there…’ Glimmer nodded quietly, turning once again to keep walking with Adora at her side. It was a quiet walk. Adora probably didn’t know what to say. To be fair, Glimmer wouldn’t know what to say if Adora lost someone so important to her either. As quiet as Adora was, she somewhat felt loud. Her hands were pressed together and squeezing each other, her breath was short, and she walked with wooden legs. ‘Is… is something wrong with her…?’ Glimmer shrugged off the idea. She didn’t have the energy to ask._

_“H-hey, Glimmer?”_

_Glimmer looked at Adora, the latter’s eyes soft. “Hm?”_

_“Do you, um… do you remember the night after Plumeria last month?”_

_‘Plumeria? When we recruited Perfuma?’ “Yeah.”_

_“W-well…” Adora started twiddling her thumbs as Glimmer’s bedroom neared. She stopped walking and Glimmer, having taken a few steps ahead, stopped as well with curiosity. She faced Adora, wondering why she looked so nervous. “You really helped out that night. Coming here and just… just getting a new home - it was a lot to take in. One moment I’m Horde Captain, and the next I’m part of the rebellion just like that. I couldn’t sleep well. Actually, I couldn’t really sleep at all. At least, not until I slept in your bed, but… I remember coming back from the mission dreading another sleepless night. I walk into my room and - and you and Bow are already in there with your own sleeping bags. You wanted to make sure I didn’t feel alone and… it really helped. So…” Adora set a gentle hand on Glimmer’s shoulder, turning her and helping her into her room. Glimmer first saw Bow with a proud smile, then his sleeping bag, then Adora’s. There was also something on the window sill, but it blended well enough with the scene that Glimmer didn’t give it much attention. She felt her feet touching the floor again as she failed to hold back her smile. “I wanted to help you, too.”_

_“And,” Bow started, gesturing at the item on the window sill as he kept his smile, “what can’t help more than strawberry cheesecake flavored ice cream cake?”_

_Glimmer’s smile stayed. At least she wasn’t making it stay. She felt happiness rise in her chest like the sun; sadly, it was a cloudy morning. As much as she wanted this to make her the happiest person alive as it usually would, the occasion just didn’t fit. She knew they meant well, but it wasn’t exactly what she thought she needed at that moment. In any other situation, there would be nothing more she’d want than to spend time with two of the people she cared about most; she really wanted to sleep and get her mind off of… *everything.* A long, sleeping night. ‘That sounds amazing right now…’_

_Fortunately, they didn’t stay up doing much other than having some of Glimmer’s favorite dessert. Rather, Adora and Bow ate, but Glimmer merely tipped her slice side to side with her fork despite Bow prompting her to eat. Adora just gave her looks. Not sad looks. More like the look she had on her face when strategizing. Bow was fast asleep as usual. He slept next to Adora, who slept between Bow and Glimmer. Despite wanting nothing more than to just sleep, she couldn’t. She felt restless. She tossed and turned, now and again staring at the back of Adora’s head. Eventually, she rolled to face away from Adora, hoping the boring wall would bore her to sleep. But all she could see on that blank wall were events unfolding. The time she teleported in her sleep and worried Angella to death. The time Angella took her to see fireflies in their most active hour in the Whispering Woods. The time she was so afraid of the war, she climbed into Angella’s bed and her mother only welcomed her with a warm embrace, helping her to sleep._

_Glimmer realized she was crying again. She covered her mouth and nose, hoping her sobbing wouldn’t wake anyone. An arm wrapped around Glimmer’s waist from behind, holding her vacant hand gently and stroking her knuckles with their thumb. She looked down to see the freckle on the hand’s pinky. It was Adora. “I’m here,” she whispered._

_Adora held her close, her forehead leaning against the back of Glimmer’s neck. She felt Adora’s heartbeat. She felt her breathing pattern. She heard her own heartbeat. She found herself following Adora’s breathing pattern. Her mind was one, and it was all on Adora’s smile. She released a sigh, the clouds in the morning within her now clearing as she wiped her tears. “Thank you,” Glimmer murmured._

Glimmer came out of that memory as she stepped foot into her new cell, ready to burst into tears as the shield rose behind her. This room looked just like the other one she was in, which led to her disappointment - not that she had high expectations in the first place. Sitting in her chair, Glimmer couldn’t find any more tears to shed, so she only released a heavy sigh. Her father was alive. How was her father alive? There’s no way that could be possible! Unless… 

“That was a pretty heavy sigh. You new here?” Asked a voice in the cell beside hers. The voice sounded young, optimism seeping through.

Soon after, a whisper followed, “Why are you talking to them?”

“I’m bored,” the young voice replied.

A deeper voice rose just above a whisper, “Starla, that could just be a bot trying to get you to talk.”

The young voice sounded baffled. “What? Now you’re just paranoid.”

“I’m not a bot,” Glimmer assured.

“Which is exactly something a bot would say,” said the deep voice.

Glimmer felt her brows furrow, “What else am I supposed to say?”

The three voices fell silent. Glimmer thought she heard them muttering amongst each other, but she didn’t have the energy to try to listen in on it. Finally, the deep voice replied, “Touche.” 

“Got a name?” Asked the young voice.

“Glimmer.”

“I’m Starla,” the young voice said, “I’m here with my brother Jewelstar and sister Tallstar.”

“And you’re telling a stranger our names because…?” Asked Tallstar.

Starla only answered, “Because I’m bored!”

“I don’t think there’s any chance of talking her out of this,” Jewelstar said; Glimmer felt he was shaking his head at her.

“Nope,” Starla gladly agreed, “So, Glimmer, _are_ you new here?”

Glimmer raised a brow, “What gave it away?”

“You sound kinda optimistic just the way you talk. Anyone who’s been here a while kinda loses that energy. Just look - erm, listen - to my sister here.”

Tallstar didn’t sound amused. “Hey!”

“See? Totally devoid of hopefulness,” Starla noted with what sounded like a smile.

Glimmer felt unsatisfied with Starla’s answer. “I’ve only said, like, ten words.”

“And it told me enough. So, what’s holding your mind hostage?”

Glimmer leaned back in her chair, poking her thumbs together. She wasn’t sure if she should open up. _‘Then again, it’s not like there’s anyone here to talk to…’_ “Um… Well, Horde Prime is conquering my planet because I brought him here and…” Glimmer felt her throat tighten at the thought of Prime. “I just wanna undo that somehow.”

“If he’s even _looked_ at your planet, it’s just done for,” said Jewelstar, “No point dwelling.”

Glimmer gritted her teeth. She held strong doubts that the Princess Alliance would lose against the Horde. “You… you don’t know that.”

“I do,” Jewelstar countered, “We watched it happen to ours. We were royal; he took us for guidance and he… he made an example of our brother to get us talking.” The conversation fell silent. Glimmer felt a lot of sorrow coming from them. She didn’t want to interrupt if Jewelstar was going to vent. He continued, “He - Horde Prime, he… it started with the spires. He made us watch as they drilled into our land and destroyed everything around it just to make a point. I’m just glad it all stopped when the lights in the room started flashing red. Somethin’ about an emergency signal from another planet he wanted to check out.”

Glimmer, who realized she was holding her breath, sighed softly. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. Like I said, no point dwelling.”

Concern struck Glimmer’s mind. “You don’t - you don’t really believe that, do you?”

“I mean, what other option is there?” Asked Starla.  
Glimmer stood and walked over to the shield, “Trust me, you don’t want to put aside your grief. It… it can end really bad.”

“Sounds like you should take your own advice,” said Jewelstar.

Glimmer could only shrug at that, already feeling her eyes start to burn with no more tears to shed. “More than I care to admit. I-I-I lost, um… I lost my mom… about a month ago, but… well, I dunno if I’m really doing right by her, if I’m gonna be honest.” Once again, the conversation fell silent. They were probably waiting for her to continue; she felt a knot swell in her heart. Nevertheless, she continued, “We fought a lot, but I still loved her. More than I knew. But I… I can’t just give up. I know that if I give up, I… I-I’m just letting her sacrifice be for nothing. She did what she did so we could win, so I _had_ to win. No matter what. The rebellion, my mom, _everything_ and _everyone_ was depending on me to drive the Horde out.” She noticed her hands were trembling and held them together, taking a shaky breath.

“It’s pointless to fight,” Jewelstar said, sounding much more clear. It sounded like he was standing at the shield of his cell too. “The Horde always wins.” 

Anger struck Glimmer’s heart, the knot becoming undone. “It’s not! The Horde hasn’t won yet! … They - he - Prime, he’s… he’s targeting people I _care_ about. My friends, my… my dad…” Distraught, she leaned her head against the shield. “Ugh, I dunno _how_ he’s back,” she said just before she felt the shield start to sting her forehead. She pulled away from the shield to feel the lingering sting on her forehead.

“If your friends are targets, they’re done for,” Jewelstar said, his voice becoming a bit gravelly. “I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.”

Glimmer felt a growl grumble in her throat. The pessimism was starting to make her stomach churn. “I don’t believe you. My friends, they… If there’s any way my dad’s back, I’m _sure_ they had something to do with it, they’re just that amazing!”

“And what makes _them_ so special? You think they’re just immune to dying like everyone else?” Tallstar asked, her words laced with indignation. 

Glimmer crossed her arms, thinking. _‘What makes them special? Easy.’_ All she had to do was recall the night her mother died, “Adora is brave. She’s one of the bravest people I know. When she makes a mistake, she does everything she can to figure out what went wrong and _fixes_ it! She managed to grow into something so much more than a Horde soldier - she didn’t _let_ the Horde turn her into something she’s not! And Bow - he’s incredibly smart and competent. He’s got such a big heart and I couldn’t ask for a better brother. And that’s _just_ two people from the alliance I’m in! They represent everything we stand and fight for. It’s only natural that everyone following us reflects that, don’t you think?”

Silence fell on the Star Siblings. Glimmer stayed standing, wondering if there was anything left for them to say. As expected, though, Jewelstar was the first to speak, “Let’s hope you’re right.”

“I like her,” Starla said; Glimmer was taken back.

“Starla,” Tallstar grumbled.

It sounded like Starla shifted to talk back at Tallstar, “What? She’s got spirit! More than we do.” Again, the noise was made and Glimmer could only guess Starla shifted once again, “Hey, Glimmer, can we join your little alliance?”

Just as Glimmer was about to answer herself, Tallstar projected her voice, “Absolutely not! Starla, you could get seriously hurt!”

“I’ll get seriously hurt if I don’t do anything either!” This was starting to sound like a conversation Glimmer had with Angella. She could only guess Starla was rolling her eyes. The similar banter was rather refreshing. “Look, they want the same thing we do, and that’s two words. Prime gone.”

“Starla,” Jewelstar started before Starla continued.

“Plus, it’s not like we’re gonna live longer as prisoners, he’ll run out of things for us to do for him!” 

Glimmer nodded in agreement. She leaned close to the shield, “If we stop him before he can use the Heart of Etheria, your planet will be safe. Don’t you wanna take that chance?”

“What good would it be anyway?” Jewelstar asked. “How would we even get out of here? If you can tell us that, we’ll… we’ll consider joining you.”

Glimmer sighed, taking his question into consideration. She remembered back when Adora and Bow wanted to go to Beast Island with no plan. “We just - we just need a plan!”

“Do you have one?” Tallstar asked.

Glimmer placed her gloved hand on the shield, the point of contact sparkling, “I could easily make one! What can you guys do? What are your merits?”

“Nothing useful on this ship,” Jewelstar answered.

Glimmer felt her shoulders fall at the revelation, “Then we’re in the same boat, there’s not enough magic in here for me to draw from…” Glimmer once again sighed and sat in her chair, her elbows on her knees. _‘There’s gotta be *something* we can do. I feel like there’s something I’ve overlooked…’_ “Ah!” Glimmer remembered how the tube fit perfectly in the back of Hordak’s neck, “I think I have an idea.” 

“Really?” Starla asked excitedly, probably smiling.

“Yeah. It won’t be easy, though.”

“I wouldn’t imagine it would be,” Jewelstar commented.

“Are you really considering this?” Tallstar asked with contempt resonating in her voice. “Remember what happened to Pulstar!”

“I don’t think he’d want us to just spend the rest of our days on our knees,” Jewelstar countered. 

Tallstar remained quiet for a brief moment. “Fine. Glitter-”

“Glimmer,” she corrected before Tallstar could continue.

“-what’s the plan?”

* * *

There were four hundred and thirteen bolts in her cell’s walls, ceiling and floor. This could only mean one thing for Glimmer: she’d been in there for too long if she had to count something for entertainment. Waiting was always a pain for her. Her mother liked to mention her impatience was like Micah’s, but Glimmer always noted that Angella wasn’t exactly a patient person either. She knew she’d be waiting a while for the plan to start, but she wasn’t exactly prepared for this kind of boredom. _‘They could’ve at least given me a book or… *something.*’_

Finally, one of Horde Prime’s clones arrived with a tray - her dinner, just as she’d hoped. He undid the shield and stepped in; once he placed the tray on the table near the shield, he noticed the chair laying on its side. Just as he looked over, she took her chance and approached, swinging the leg of the chair in her cell; he caught her wrist with one hand and grabbed her by her throat with the other with absolute composure. Now that both of his hands were occupied, she took the fork from the tray and stabbed it into the wrist of the hand holding her throat; she forced his hand to the floor, stepped on it to keep it pinned, and stood, reaching over his shoulder to sink the fork into the hole in the back of his neck. Electricity sputtered, the current traveling through the fork and nearly shocked Glimmer just after she let go of the fork. _‘That was cutting it close.’_

“Did it work?” Asked Jewelstar.

“Yeah,” Glimmer said, walking out to find the Star Siblings’ cell next to hers. She found the control panel for the shield and sighed, not entirely sure how to use it. “Problem.”

“You don’t know how to work the control panel?” Tallstar asked.

“Pretty much, I’m not really a tech wiz like Bow-” Glimmer noticed a black screen by the panel. “I have an idea,” she said as she ran over to the subdued clone. She dragged him to place his palm on the screen; the shield was undone. “That was a _lot_ easier than I thought it was gonna be.”

The Star Siblings stepped out, all wearing smiles. Judging by what she’d heard, Glimmer didn’t think Tallstar smiled much. “Whoa! You’re _really_ pretty,” Starla gasped.

Flustered, Glimmer scratched the back of her head, moving her eyes away from the siblings, “Oh - gosh, wow, um, thanks.” 

“I guess improvising isn’t so bad after all,” Tallstar quipped. Glimmer turned to the long hall ahead of them, seeing a fork in the road.

_"So what you’re saying is,” Tallstar started, already sounding annoyed, “the plan is to get out of the cell at dinner and just… go wherever we want?”_

_“Got a better plan?” Glimmer asked, turning her chair onto its side._

_“No,” said Jewelstar, “but what if we get lost?”_

_“As long as we stay together and have each other’s backs, we’ll make it out of this,” Glimmer said as she stomped onto the chair leg to then pick it up. “At least, I hope so. I’m really good with improvising.”_

“Do we go left or right?” Asked Starla as the four stood before the conjunction. Just as Glimmer was about to answer that, a group of clones came from the left side. 

_‘Good thing they came out before I picked left.’_ Glimmer crouched to dodge a clone’s punch and jabbed her chair leg into his abdomen to counter; she swung the leg downward twice, the clone blocking with his arm both times. He swung his fist at her; she weaved under it and stepped behind him. She stomped on the back of his knee, then kicked him onto his chest; she stepped over to slam the chair leg onto the back of his neck, rendering him immobile. _‘Okay, so nothing needs to go in there to knock it out,’_ she noted. She looked over to find that the siblings had one clone left. He attempted to rush Starla; she stepped out of the way and, while he was off balance, Tallstar kicked his ankle to trip it. After he fell, Jewelstar stomped on the back of his neck. She sighed, wondering how much easier this would have come to an end if the Star Siblings could use their terrakinesis. 

_“Not enough rock in the metal here,” Jewelstar explained._

“Right it is,” Glimmer said with a slight chuckle as she waved them over with her chair leg. The four walked closely with each other, Tallstar at the rear to watch for any enemies that may come from that direction. The walk felt like it was taking hours to get anywhere at all. It was too quiet for Glimmer’s liking. She felt her hands shaking as they held the chair leg in fists. She looked over at Starla, who was holding the entire chair. She was sweating. “I’m scared, too,” Glimmer said to her.

Starla looked over. “Can’t say I blame you.”

“We’re gonna make it out of this,” Glimmer assured, “I know it.”

“I hope you’re right about that.” 

As they approached the next conjunction, more clones came around the corner, running at the team at full speed. Starla grunted as she thrusted the chair at one of them; the clone punched through the chair; Glimmer hit the back of the clone’s knee with the chair leg, then the back of his neck once it was within reach. Once he fell, Starla turned to another clone attacking Jewelstar, swinging the chair to hit the back of its neck, one of its legs flying off at impact. 

Just then, Glimmer heard a voice call out from around the corner. “Hey, what’s happening? Is someone there?!” She knew that voice. She rushed the next clone past the corner and found another set of cells, only one of them having the shield up. Not having the time to see who’s in there, Glimmer rushed the clone again against the wall; the clone managed to grab her by her hair and pull her into his punch. Glimmer grunted at impact and grabbed his hand holding her hair with both hands, dropping the leg, to twist his wrist inward to get out of his grasp, bringing him into an arm twist just like Adora taught her. She forced the clone onto its chest, brought her fists together and slammed them down on the back of his neck. When she stood, she heard the last of these clones drop, but her sight fell to the prisoners. With haste, Glimmer dragged the clone to the control panel to undo the shield, the prisoners now seeing her. “Glimmer!” Netossa called out with a grin. Glimmer ran into the cell and hugged Netossa, who hugged her back tighter, laughing, “You have no idea how happy I am to see you!” Spinnerella laid a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder in agreement.

“I could say the same to you,” Glimmer said, pulling away. The siblings approached from behind Glimmer. She gestured over to them accordingly, “That’s Jewelstar, Tallstar and Starla, they’re with me. Guys, this is Netossa and Spinnerella, they’re friends from the rebellion!”

“Glimmer, what on Etheria went down? I thought this war was supposed to be over _days_ ago,” asked Netossa. 

“Plan failed,” Glimmer quickly explained, “are you two okay?”

“Better now that you’re here,” Spinnerella said. “We know a way out of here.”

“Really?” Starla asked excitedly, now standing beside Glimmer.

“When the big guy brought us here, we saw a room full of space pods,” Netossa explained. “Thanks to Spinny’s impeccable memory,” Netossa continued and quickly kissed Spinnerella’s cheek, “we can get back there.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Jewelstar asked before stepping closer, “Let’s go!”

“Aw, you’re so excited,” said an approaching voice, “too bad I’ll have to burst your bubbles.”

Glimmer and the others turned to find the fiendish magicat approaching, her tail waving in excitement. _‘Of course it had to be you.’_ Jewelstar stepped toward the magicat, ready to fight. “Jewelstar, wait,” Glimmer called out, “I know her.” 

“Catra,” Netossa snarled. “Can’t say I’m surprised to find you at his beck and call.”

Catra furrowed her brows; her tail stopped waving as she looked at Netossa sideways, “Do I know you?”

As Netossa replied, Glimmer studied the situation. _‘I could probably fight her while the rest get away. Anyone else jumps in and I’ll just have to worry about them in the fight. They don’t know how brutal she can be. But if they escape before I can win, I’ll probably be stuck here for… a *while.* I’ll have to wait to see Adora and Bow again. If they’re alive, at least… Screw it.’_ “I can take her,” Glimmer said, “you guys should just get to the space pods.”

“What?” Starla asked in shock.

“I’ve beaten her before,” Glimmer said.

Catra narrowed her eyes on Glimmer, “Except you don’t have magic to cheat with this time.”

“Are you sure about this?” Jewelstar asked in turn.

“Hey,” Netossa called out, “she’s tough as nails. She’s got this.”

Tallstar spoke up, “We don’t have time to keep talking.”

“She’s right,” said Glimmer. “Netossa, if… if you get out and I don’t, I need you to send a message for me.”

“What is it?” Netossa inquired.

Glimmer sighed, thinking of all the things she’d been wanting to say to Adora and Bow. Out of all of those things, one phrase stood out. “Tell Bow and Adora that I’m… I-I’m sorry.”

She heard footsteps behind her, then a hand on her shoulder. Netossa’s voice was closer now, “You’ll be able to tell them yourself.”

Glimmer sure hoped so. “Spinnerella, can you give me the chair in your cell?” She asked, holding her hand out. Spinnerella complied and gave her the chair. “Thanks. Go, now.” Fortunately, they listened, and ran off at Spinnerella’s directions. Catra growled and attempted to follow, but Glimmer threw the chair at Catra’s feet; Catra jumped back to dodge, staring Glimmer down. Glimmer smirked, “What’s wrong? Afraid of round two?”

“You won’t be so lucky this time,” Catra sneered, spreading her stance for the coming attack. 

Glimmer placed her fists up, one foot forward. Next she knew, Catra was right in front of her, swinging her claws at her head; Glimmer ducked only to meet Catra’s knee immediately at her nose. Glimmer stood after the impact, tempted to feel her nose, but wise enough to keep her fists in front of her. Catra’s next attack was barely any slower than the previous, but slow enough for Glimmer to see it coming. Catra swung her leg upward, jumping off of her other foot while Glimmer leaned back to dodge. Catra spun in the air and, with her other foot, kicked Glimmer in her stomach, pushing her into the cell. 

Glimmer landed on her back, grunting quietly as she rolled to her side. She looked up to find Catra walking over to the control panel of the cell; Glimmer leapt out just in time, the shields rising a hairline behind her. She landed on her chest, the impact calling to Catra’s attention; Catra looked over and growled. Glimmer shielded her face and chest with her arms as Catra started kicking her while she stood up, eventually blocking perfectly to see Catra’s chest open for an attack. Glimmer used her other hand to punch only for Catra to be quick enough to side-step; Glimmer used her blocking arm to throw a punch at Catra’s head; Catra weaved under the punch just as Glimmer expected. Glimmer raised her knee to bang into Catra’s ribs while Catra, at the same time, brought her knee to crash against Glimmer’s abdomen. The two backed away from each other, winded by their attacks. 

Glimmer held an arm over her abdomen, wheezing as she kept her eyes on Catra, who was feeling her ribs. Once Catra separated her hand from her ribs, she extracted her claws once more, prompting Glimmer to take a deep breath and return to her stance, two fists before her and a foot in front. _‘She’s really fast. I’m lucky to have blocked most of her attacks so far, but I’m… I’m too slow to hit her unless it’s while she’s hitting me. That’s not a great strategy to use if I wanna win. There’s gotta be something else I can do…’_ Catra’s toe twitched. _‘Here she comes.’_ Catra launched herself throwing three kicks, Glimmer successfully blocking them all. _‘Naturally, kicks are slower, but she should know this, so why…? Oh!’_ Glimmer noticed Catra raising her claw; she guarded her face with her arm; Catra sank her claws into Glimmer’s arm. Glimmer huffed out the pain and was quick to wrap said arm around Catra’s to keep her close; Glimmer punched Catra in the face, then swung her fist at her ribs; Catra blocked the second punch and slid her hand to stab Glimmer in the side with her claws, earning a scream from Glimmer. Glimmer grabbed onto Catra’s other hand and kept her closer, using a foot to kick in the side of Catra’s knee. Catra screamed in turn, using Glimmer’s hold against her and sinking her claws into both her shoulder and her wrist to throw her over her shoulder, Glimmer once again getting winded as she landed on her back. 

When Glimmer opened her eyes, she saw a foot coming down on her; she managed to roll out of the way onto all fours only for Catra to punch her across the face, Glimmer once again landing on her back. When she looked over as she stood, Glimmer saw Catra growling at her own knee. She realized Catra used the same leg Glimmer damaged for that attack. _‘Holding her and keeping her close was… *somewhat* beneficial. That has to mean something…’_ Glimmer brought herself to a knee. Catra recovered quickly and sprinted, her speed reminiscent of… 

_With Adora on her knees, Bow sat up looking like he just woke up. “Do you have to be so rough?” He whined as Adora helped him up from the gravelly ground._

_“Enemies won’t be gentle,” Adora answered with a smile, “I’m just doin’ you a favor. Nothing feels better than the sore muscles in the morning!”_

_“A *lot* of things feel better,” Glimmer commented with a chuckle._

_“No kidding,” Bow mumbled as he felt his shoulder._

_Adora, her hands at her sides as she panted softly, looked over at Glimmer with a smile. “Did you catch all that?”_

_“Um,” Glimmer stuttered, not wanting to admit she was mostly admiring Adora’s movements rather than paying attention to what she was doing. She smiled, “Yeah, totally!”_

_Adora, her smile still up, rolled her eyes. “Sure. Come on, Glimmer, you never know when you’re gonna fight someone faster or stronger! This is really important, okay?”_

_“Is it?”_

_“It is to me.”_

_Glimmer felt her cheeks warm up at the remark. Bow sighed, “Glimmer, why don’t you have a turn at Adora’s teachings?”_

_“Wait, you’re done?” Adora asked._

_Bow nodded, “Pretty sure I got it down.”_

_“You haven’t even tried it on me yet,” Adora said._

_“I-I’m fine, thank you,” Bow said with a nervous smile, stepping away so Glimmer could step in._

_Glimmer stood before Adora as the latter waved off at Bow. “Okay, so,” Adora started, feigning a fighting stance, “put your arms up.” Glimmer lazily lifted her fists to her chin. Adora dropped her stance, “Glimmer, come on.” Glimmer rolled her eyes and decided to indulge her, putting her fists before her and a foot forward. Adora brought her stance back up. “Okay, good. Slowly, throw a punch at my face.” Glimmer looked at Bow, who only shrugged. She didn’t ask him to be slow - this was new to them both. Glimmer looked into Adora’s eyes and slowly punched; Adora stepped to the side, instructing as she did so, and wrapped an arm around Glimmer’s neck and under the arm of which she’s punching with, then putting her other arm behind Glimmer’s back to hold her hands together. “Then you wanna…” Adora placed her foot behind Glimmer and pushed her back against it slowly, Glimmer’s back arching a little too much for her liking, causing her to hold onto Adora’s muscular arm in concern with a small laugh. “Think you got it?”_

_“Why weren’t you like that with me?!” Bow asked, holding a hand out in disbelief._

_Adora let go of Glimmer when she stood straight again and stepped back. “Okay. I’m gonna punch slow, then I want you to do it to me, okay?”_

_“Punch slow?” Glimmer asked with a raised brow. “Don’t think I can take you?”_

_Adora dropped her stance in surprise, “Glimmer, are you sure?”_

_“Lay it on me,” said Glimmer as she raised her stance._

_Adora shrugged, “I really don’t wanna hurt-”_

_“I’m not a baby,” said Glimmer._

_Adora sighed, raising her fists. “Okay. Here I come. Ready?” Glimmer nodded; Adora came in a lot faster than she expected…_

In her speed, Catra raised a fist, and it was like everything was in slow motion all of a sudden. Glimmer felt herself smile when she realized what her next move would be. _‘Adora… thank you.’_ Glimmer leaned to the side to dodge, wrapping her arms around Catra’s head and punching arm. Catra released a surprised grunt, “Wh-what the-” Glimmer didn’t care much for what she had to say; she kicked the back of Catra's shins while pushing Catra back with her arms, landing halfway underneath her with her arms still around her. Catra’s legs and arm squirmed - she was clearly panicking. 

_“When they panic, that’s usually good,” Adora said, “because that means you’ve found their weakness, but… panicking can sometimes result in a not-so-good feeling.”_

Glimmer remembered those words as she felt Catra scratch her arm over her neck with her free hand. Glimmer winced at the burning pain, the pain eventually loosening her grip enough for Catra to start sitting up. She then remembered all of the pain she’d endured in her life: losing her dad, losing her mom… seeing the look in Adora’s eyes when she’s said possibly the worst thing she’d said to anyone. Catra was responsible for her mother’s demise. If she thought she could hurt Glimmer any further, she was poorly mistaken. The pain Glimmer felt in her arm was gone. While Catra sat up, Glimmer clasped her hands around her wrist and wrapped her shins around Catra’s neck and arm, trapping her in yet another grapple. 

Catra growled and started scratching Glimmer’s shin, the new scars burning into her skin. Glimmer growled the pain away as she remembered her mother once again. Bottling up all of this rage turned out to be a good idea - she could unleash all of it on the person responsible for it. No way by the First Ones would Glimmer let Catra go; she swung her legs to have one around Catra’s neck and one across her abdomen, then used them to slam Catra onto her back, feeling her head bounce on the metal floor as she yelped. 

Once again, Catra’s legs started to squirm as she scratched Glimmer’s shin across her neck, growling at the same time. Glimmer clenched her jaw at the pain, needing to keep Catra down as long as she could so the others could escape. She pressed her shin down on Catra’s throat to suffocate her, but Catra’s scratching only got more desperate. 

Glimmer finally let out a groan at the pain; she sat up and punched Catra in the knee she kicked earlier, Catra once again releasing a yelp. Next Glimmer knew, Catra’s shin was across her eyes, kicking her back. 

Glimmer released a growl in pain as she landed on her back, feeling her eyes. She looked to find Catra on all fours, trying to get up with her knee as damaged as it was. Glimmer was able to stand before Catra could, and Catra was clearly scared of that as she somehow tried to crawl away. She didn’t make a step before Glimmer wrapped her arms around her waist from behind and held her breath. _‘I’ve never done a suplex before, but I guess I’m doing that now!’_ Glimmer, her feet planted to the floor, threw her torso back, having Catra land on her head. Glimmer felt a pain spike in her back; she let go of Catra and fell to her knees, feeling her back. She heard movement behind her and turned to find Catra already throwing a punch to her face, knocking Glimmer onto her side. Glimmer spotted the chair leg she’d dropped earlier. She leapt off of the floor to dodge Catra’s pounce and dived for the chair leg only for it to be kicked away by possibly the most convenient clone she’d met. She looked up and felt her face go cold at the sight of multiple clones.

“Oh, Your Majesty,” said Horde Prime as he stepped through his clones, his eyes closed. Glimmer stood and threw a punch at him; Catra managed to catch her in a headlock before she could hit him, though he seemed to maintain his composure. “It pains me to see how… _ungrateful_ you are.”

“Ungrateful?” Glimmer growled as she struggled in Catra’s grip, “You locked me up! Threatened the people I love!”

“There are other escapees - they’re going for the space pods,” Catra said, giving Glimmer one more reason to want a round three in the future. 

“Don’t think me unaware of the situation,” Horde Prime sneered. “I’ve had them locked the moment our guest here subdued my clone.” He came close to Glimmer’s face with a smirk, completely unbothered by Glimmer’s feral squirming. “I must say, I’m quite impressed with you.” 

“I can impress you a lot more if this runt lets me go,” Glimmer retorted.

Horde Prime sighed, standing straight with his hands behind his back. “As much as you impress me, sadly, you’ve given me no choice. I apologize in advance should the prototype fail.”

 _‘Prototype?’_ Glimmer felt her limbs freeze up. “Wh-what are you going to do to me?”

“Only what you’ve forced me to,” he said, walking away. Glimmer’s sweat felt cold on her forehead. 

DAY 3: BRIGHT MOON - 17:00

Adora found herself in the dining room with her eyes glued to the clock. The Horde was coming, and that was the only thing on her mind. Scouts reported they’d arrive soon. _‘Any second now…’_ Adora nibbled on one of her fingernails, her foot tapping on the floor. _‘Come on… any second now… let’s just get this over with…’_ Adora noticed her heart was racing; she took deep breaths, crossing her arms as she watched the clock. 

Another set of footsteps entered the room, but Adora ignored it. It was probably someone looking for a snack or something. “Hey, Adora,” called out Micah. Adora raised her shoulders, her head quick to spin and meet his eyes. He raised his hands, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Adora sighed, her shoulders dropping. He probably recognized her readiness. “Sorry,” she said, looking at the clock again, “I kinda have bad experiences with those two words together.”

“Oh…” Micah leaned against the table beside her, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Adora shrugged. 

Micah nodded. That was about it for that conversation. Micah tapped against the table as the room fell silent, making small noises with his mouth. “You okay?” He suddenly asked.

“I’m fine,” Adora said, shrugging again. She didn’t want him knowing how low the chances were of finding _and_ saving Glimmer without She-Ra. At least, in her opinion. If what she spoke came into existence, he’d be crushed. He only _just_ got back from Beast Island. She didn’t want him feeling like he was better off there than here. 

He could probably tell she was anxious. She could feel his eyes on her. She looked at him, hoping it’d be enough to prompt him to tell her what was on his mind. He placed a hand on her shoulder; she put her hand on his. “I still believe in you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” _‘Wow, hit the nail on the head…’_ “You saved me,” he continued, “and I know you’re gonna save my little girl.”

Adora felt herself smile. “I promise I’ll find Glimmer, Your Majesty,” she replied. “Wherever she is, we’ll get her back.”

Before the conversation could go any further, a voice called out, “They’re here!”

Micah’s eyes sank at that sound. The two of them raced to the gates together, passing every guard on their way out to defend the castle. When they arrived, the shield was already up, and Adora felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders. _‘Thank the First Ones for you, Entrapta!’_ Micah immediately left to his position at the Moon Stone; Adora was preoccupied to really notice. The shield had a cyan color to it, she noticed. _‘I was hoping that’s what Entrapta was gonna use it for.’_ Looking at the shield in the sky, Adora’s eyes traveled down to find a sight causing Adora’s heart to stop - at least, that’s what it felt like. With wooden legs, she walked down to ground level, past Frosta and Mermista at their stations and over to the shield’s surface to face Horde Prime’s clones. The resemblance to Hordak was uncanny. But that wasn’t what had her palms sweating. Beside the clone at the shield was Glimmer, on her knees, looking to the ground with her hands behind her back. “Glimmer…” She felt that small whimper erupt from her throat. 

Catching Adora’s attention, the clone raised his palm to display a device; the device projected a hologram of who she assumed to be Horde Prime. He stood tall with a smug smirk, his hands behind his back. “Adora, is it? I’m so glad to finally meet you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted this with Catra - the scene with Imp. I thought it'd be great for her to feel the way Scorpia felt when she demanded her to dispose of Emily. What goes around comes around. WRITING THE GLIMMER V. CATRA SCENE WAS SO FUN HOLY SHIT!!!!! I'm so glad I got to write it. Catra needed to get decked like... a lot of times. And I feel satisfied with Glimmer being the one to kick her ass. Fight scenes are one of my favorite things to write ever. I also feel somewhat satisfied with the brief arc Perfuma had here where she tries to be more patient with Entrapta. It really pissed me off that they gave us an autistic character, made everyone except, like, two characters heavily annoyed by them, and called it "perfect representation." I was also a bit annoyed with her in season 5 because it was like everyone expected her to be the only one to put an effort into a friendship when it should really be a two way street, ya know? I completely changed things up with the Star Siblings and I feel pretty good about it! Give these characters more screen time dammit. Next chapter is gonna be WILD. At least I hope so. I want it to be wild. Please leave a review if you enjoyed! 💕


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